Neutron irradiation effects on highly oriented antiferroelectric PbZrO3 (PZ) thin films were investigated. All films were prepared by a sol-gel technique or by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The dielectric properties were investigated in a frequency range from 1 to 250 and at up to 400C, prior to and after irradiation to neutron fluences of 0.5 x 1022, 1 x 1022, 2 x 1022, and 3 x 1022/m2 (E > 0.1MeV). After irradiation, the films were annealed in several steps up to 400°C in order to remove the radiation-induced defects. The results were explained in terms of a phenomenological model of radiation effects in PZ films, which takes into account structural defects, such as O vacancies, and radiation-induced charges. It was found that the films were most sensitive to neutron irradiation in the vicinity of the phase transition temperature Tc. In addition, the structural order of the films as well as the interfaces play an important role. It was found that the PZ heterostructures prepared by PLD were radiation harder than the sol-gel films. The dielectric properties of the PLD films were more or less unaffected by neutron irradiation up to a fluence of 3 x 1022/m2 (E > 0.1MeV).

Oxygen Vacancy Defects in Antiferroelectric PbZrO3 Thin Film Heterostructures after Neutron Irradiation. R.Bittner, K.Humer, H.W.Weber, K.Kundzins, A.Sternberg, D.A.Lesnyh, D.V.Kulikov, Y.V.Trushin: Journal of Applied Physics, 2004, 96[6], 3239-46