Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
High-resolution electron microscopic examination of alkoxide thin-film gels has been employed to study the drying and aging of thin-film Pb(Zr0.45Ti0.55)O2 (OR) 2 as it evolves from the gel to the ferroelectric perovskite product. The initially amorphous film is observed to aggregate to form ordered islands with inter-metal distances close to that of the final structure embedded in a highly disordered matrix. When these aggregates are at the surface they grow and decompose more rapidly to the perovskite product. The progress to a polycrystalline final state is followed and recorded in real time and in time-lapse at high resolution.