Comparative studies of PST thin films as prepared by Sol-Gel, LDCVD and sputtering techniques

Lead scandium tantalate (PST) thin films for pyroelectric applications have been deposited by using liquid delivery chemical vaporise deposition (LDCVD), sputtering and sol-gel techniques. These films were annealed by using rapid thermal annealing to improve their electrical properties. Their microstructures and electrical properties such as permittivity εr, dielectric loss tanδ, pyroelectric coefficient p, and thermal detection figure of merit Fd were studied. It is suggested to use a combination of methods to depositing films and then use rapid thermal annealing to produce high quality PST thin films.