LPE growth of PZNT film using superheating YBCO thin film as seed layer

A superheating YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO or Y123) thin film was applied as a seed layer to grow Pb[(Zn1/3Nb2/3)0.91Ti0.09]O3 (PZNT) films by a liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) process. In the present work, the YBCO thin film underwent a growth temperature of 1050 °C, which was about 40 °C higher than its peritectic temperature. It is very interesting that the superheated YBCO seed film could be used to grow not only Nd1+xBa2-xCu3O7-δ (NBCO) films with similar compositions but also PZNT films with completely different compositions. The XRD analysis confirmed that the PZNT film grown on the YBCO seeded MgO substrate had a good epitaxial relationship of [100](001)PZNT//[100](001)YBCO//[100] (001)MgO. Compared with the PZNT films directly grown on MgO substrates, the LPE PZNT film on YBCO/MgO presented a better surface morphology. It was found that the superheating YBCO seed film plays a crucial role for the LPE growth of PZNT in the process. Furthermore, the superheating mechanism was discussed in terms of thermodynamic theories as well.