The (Pb0.90La0.10)TiO3 [PLT] thick films (3.0 mu m) with a PbO buffer layer were deposited on the Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO2/Si(1 0 0) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering method. The PLT thick films comprise five periodicities, the layer thicknesses of (Pb0.90La0.10)TiO3 and PbO in one periodicity are fixed. The PbO buffer layer improves the phase purity and electrical properties of the PLT thick films. The microstructure and electrical properties of the PLT thick films with a PbO buffer layer were studied. The PLT thick films with a PbO buffer layer possess good electrical properties with the remnant polarization (P-r = 2.40 mu C cm(-2)), coercive field (E-c = 18.2 kV cm(-1)), dielectric constant (epsilon(r) = 139) and dielectric loss (tan delta = 0.0206) at 1 kHz, and pyroelectric coefficient (9.20 x 10(-9) C cm(-2) K-1). The result shows the PLT thick film with a PbO buffer layer is a good candidate for pyroelectric detector. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.