Rapid depth profiling of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films by pulsed glow-discharge optical emission spectroscopy

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films have a large application potential in microelectronic devices,
memory applications and microelectromechanical systems. Reactive sputtering of a single metallic target
in a pulsed DC mode is a promising approach for a fast and cost-efficient deposition of thin PZT films on
an industrial scale. However, for efficient optimization of the process parameters, it is necessary to have
access to a rapid tool for chemical depth profiling. We will show in this paper that glow-discharge optical
emission spectroscopy (GD-OES) is capable of yielding fast and reliable information about the PZT thin
film composition. A novel pulsed mode of GD-OES was applied to bulk PZT samples (for calibrations
purposes) and to thin PZT coatings. The influence of different parameters on this pulsed mode will be
discussed. Using pulsed GD-OES we could successfully measure the composition of our PZT thin films
and so optimize the deposition process.