Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films with Zr/Ti ratios of 30/70, 40/60, 52/48, 60/40, and 70/30 derived from metal alkoxide precursor solution were deposited on platinized silicon substrates by sol-gel technique. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the films exhibit a single perovskite phase with mostly (I 11) preferred orientation. The SEM study proved that PZT films possess a dense microstructure without cracks and voids. Ferroelectric and dielectric phenomena were studied in correlation with the variation of Zr/Ti ratio and its influence on crystallographic structure and morphology of the films. It was found that, among all the investigated films, the PZT films with Zr/Ti ratio of 52/48 exhibit the most promising properties including high remanent polarization and low coercive field approximate to 24 mu C cm(-2) and 72 kV cm(-1), respectively. The films were also characterized by excellent dielectric properties (dielectric permittivity approximate to 1200 and loss factor approximate to 0.02). (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.