The electrical properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin film prepared by photochemical metal-organic deposition (PMOD) using photosensitive starting precursors were characterized. Unlike sol-gel procedure based on the chemical reaction including hydrolysis and condensation, by PMOD, metallic state is obtained through the removal of organic ligand by exposure to UV This metallic state usually turns to oxide state through oxidation reaction with atmospheric oxygen during exposure to UV Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopic observation showed that a complete removal of organic group was possibly obtained by exposure of spin-coated PZT precursor film to UV at room temperature. After anneal treatment of the UV-exposed PZT precursor film to crystallize, a highly preferred growth orientation was found in PZT film according to the orientation of substrate Pt. The characteristics of ferroelectric properties (remnant polarization and coercive field) and leakage current behavior were almost the same as those of conventional PZT film prepared by sol-gel processing. However, a slight shift of hysteresis curve and more leaky behavior with negative direction of bias were found and it seemed to be due to the presence of micro-defects formed during PMOD reaction. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.