We investigated gamma-ray irradiation effects on electrical properties of ferroelectric PbTiO3 (PTO) and
Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) thin films. PTO and PZT thin films were prepared on the Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by
using a sol–gel method with a spin-coating process. The prepared PTO and PZT thin films were subjected to
gamma radiation with various total doses from 0 kGy to 300 kGy. There were no noticeable morphological and
structural changes in PTO and PZT films before and after irradiation. As a total dose increases up to 300 kGy, a
larger degradation behavior of electrical properties was observed in the PZT films rather than in the PTO films.
About 35% of remanent polarization value decreased for the PZT films, while just 10% of that decreased for the
PTO films. Dielectric constant of PZT films decreased much from 850 to 580, but that of the PTO films decreased
just a little from400 to 340. This degradation behavior of polarization and dielectric properties can be explained
by the pinning of domain walls by some radiation-induced defects. These results suggest that the PTO films have
higher radiation hardness properties than the PZT films.