Ferroelectric coatings by the sol-gel method

Recent research on ferroelectric films via the sol-gel method is discussed, with emphases on preparative problems, electrical and optical properties, and applications in devices. Ferroelectric thin films, including LiNbO3, BaTiO3, KNbO3, Pb(ZrTii)O3, and (SrBai..)Nb2O6, were investigated. The structures of these ferroelectric materials are primary made up of networks of oxygen octahedras. They crystallized at relatively low temperature (< 0.5 Tm ), where Tm is liquidus temperature. Typical applications of ferroelectrics considered here include holographic memory and non-volatile semiconductor memory devices.