[en] The area of ferroelectric thin films has expanded rapidly recently with the advent of high quality multi-oxide deposition technology. Advances in thin film quality has resulted in the realization of new technologies not achievable through classical bulk ceramic processing techniques. An example of this progress is the co-processing of ferroelectric thin films with standard semiconductor silicon and GaAs integrated circuits for radiation hard, non-volatile memory products. While the development of this class of products is still embryonic, the forecasted market potential is rapidly out distancing the combined developmental effort. Historically the greatest use of bulk ferroelectric material has been in sensor technology, utilizing the pyroelectric and piezoelectric properties of the material. By comparison, a relatively small development effort has been reported for ferroelectric thin film senor technology, a field sure to provide exciting advances in the future. The papers in this proceedings volume were presented at the first symposium dedicated to the field of ferroelectric thin films held by the Materials Research Society at the Spring 1990 Meeting in San Francisco, CA, April 16-20, 1990. The symposium was designed to provide a comprehensive tutorial covering the newest advances of ferroelectric thin films, including material systems, new deposition techniques and physical, electrical and electro-optic characterization

[en] The electro-optic properties of sputter-deposited PLZT, BaTiO₃, SBN, and BNN films on fused silica substrates have been studied using a confocal scanning optical polarization microscope. In this paper the Pockels, Kerr, and higher order electro-optic coefficients and their relations to the non-linear optical coefficients in the films are presented. The materials and physical properties of the films are discussed

[en] In this paper the interface between ultrathin sputtered lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films and a conductive electrode (indium tin oxide-ITO) is investigated. Structural and compositional changes at the PZT-ITO interface have been examined by surface analysis and depth profiling techniques of glancing angle x-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering (RBS), SIMS, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA). Studies indicate significant interdiffusion of lead into the underlying ITP layer and glass substrate with a large amount of residual stress at the interface. Influence of such compositional deviations at the interface is correlated to an observed thickness dependence in the dielectric properties of PZT films

[en] Alkoxide-based solutions were synthesized and used to prepare Pb[(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.90Ti_0.10]O₃ (90MNT) thin layers on plantinized Si. A multilayering spin casting method was used. In this paper the effects of preparation procedure, additives, and intermediate heat-treatments on perovskite phase content, microstructure development and dielectric properties are reported. The greatest perovskite content (∼99%) and the best dielectric properties (K ∼ 1500--2000, tan∂ ∼ 0.03 at 100 kHz) resulted from rapid thermal processing of individual layers at 800 degrees C. Polarization-reversal measurements are also reported

[en] This paper reports on the feroelectric domain structure in sputtered lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and transmission electron diffraction (TED). The individual ferroelectric domains occur as (110)-type microtwins as is observed in the bulk ceramic. The arrangement and size of the ferroelectric domains is strongly dependent on the microstructure of the sputtered film