Different methods have been proposed in the literature to deposit PZT thin films. Among these, chemical based processes have been revealed as a promising preparation route due to their low cost processing and the facility for controlling the stoichiometry of complex systems. The objective of this work was to investigate the influence of the time and temperature of crystallization on the physical properties of the Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3 thin films prepared by a hybrid method. The structural and microstructural dependence on the crystallization conditions of the PZT films were investigated by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. Dielectric and ferroelectric properties were also characterized and their behaviors were related to the structural evolution of films.

Dielectric measurements of lanthanum modified lead titanate ceramics were carried out in a frequency and temperature range of 70 ´ 10(6)Hz - 2 ´ 10(9)Hz and 300 K - 420 K, respectively. Dielectric relaxation appears around 7 ´ 10(8)Hz at room temperature, and the maximum of the dielectric relaxation was around 393 K, the transition temperature (Tc). The relaxation frequency passes through a minimum at Tc and the dielectric relaxation exists in both paraelectric and ferroelectric phases. A fitting of the experimental data with the Debye relations gives some keys for understanding the dielectric behavior of such materials.

The texturing process and the characterization of textured Sr xBa1-xNb2O6 (x = 0.5; x = 0.6) ferroelectric ceramics were investigated. The ceramic bodies were fabricated through two stage sintering. The first and second stage consisted in conventional firing and hot forging of the ceramic bodies, respectively, both at oxygen atmosphere. The forged ceramics achieved high densification level although showing abnormal grain growth. X-ray diffraction, dielectric and pyroelectric analysis showed that is possible to obtain preferential orientation of the [00l] crystallographic planes due to grain arrangement during hot forging. Consequently, the investigated properties for this textured material were strongly dependent on the measurement direction. On the other hand, high room temperature pyroelectric coefficients, of the same order of that obtained for single crystals of same composition, were observed.