Lead barium zirconate (PBZ) thin films on BaPbO3(BPO)/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates have been prepared by rf-magnetron sputtering at 500 degrees C. The orientation of PBZ film changes from random to (1 1 1)-prefer oriented when the thickness increases. The grain size increases with increasing PBZ thickness. The dielectric properties are greatly suppressed when the thickness of dielectrics decreases. The dielectric constant and tunability decrease from 536% and 49.1% to 205% and 22.7%, respectively, when the thickness of PBZ decreases from 323 to 62 nm. The origins of the collapsed dielectric behavior are discussed. The variation of dielectric properties with film thickness can be interpreted by (a) antiferroclectric layer at PBZ/BPO interface, (b) dead layer at Pt/PBZ interface, and (c) grain boundary dead layers. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.