Lead zirconate (PbZrO3) thin films grown on Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO2/Si(1 0 0) and fused quartz substrates are prepared by a sol-gel process. These films on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si and fused quartz substrates have a highly (1 0 0), and random oriented growth, respectively. The crystallization mechanism of PbZrO3 film grown on various substrates is discussed. The PbZrO3 film on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate shows a typical antiferroelectric characteristic including the electric field induced reversible antiferroelectric-fetroelectric (AFE-FE) transition. The AFE-FE transition field was about 250 kV/cm and the reverse ferroelectric-antiferroelectric (FE-AFE) was about 125 kV/cm. For ferroelectric phase, the remanent polarization (P-r) and the coercive electric field (E-c) are 32 muC/cm(2) and 84 kV/em at applied voltage of 10 V, respectively. The thin films on fused quartz substrates exhibited good optical transmittance, and had optical direct transitions. The band gaps of the films, which annealed at 450, 600, and 750degreesC are 4.11, 4.56, and 4.59 eV, respectively. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.