Method for fabrication of ceramic dielectric films on copper foils

A method for fabricating a lead-lanthanum-zirconium-titanium (PLZT) ceramic film on a copper substrate, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) applying onto the copper substrate a layer of a sol-gel composition containing a ceramic precursor comprising a lead compound, a lanthanum compound, a zirconium compound, and a titanium compound in 2-methoxyethanol;
• (b) drying the layer of step (a) at a temperature up to about 250° C.;
• (c) pyrolyzing the dried layer from step (b) at a temperature in the range of about 300 to about 450° C. under a flowing stream of an inert gas to form a PLZT ceramic film from the ceramic precursor;
• (d) optionally applying one or two additional layers of the sol-gel composition onto the ceramic film from step (c) and repeating steps (b), and (c) for each additional layer, to build up a thicker ceramic film on the copper substrate;
• (e) crystallizing the ceramic film from step (c) at a temperature in the range of about 600 to about 750° C. under a flowing stream of an inert gas;
• and
• (f) optionally applying one or more additional layers of the sol-gel composition onto the crystallized ceramic film from step (e), and repeating (b), (c), (d), and (e) for each additional layer.