l The microstructure and electrical properties of highly (001)-textured lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films deposited on BaPbO3 (BPO) at 475 degrees C by RF-magnetron sputtering were studied. Twenty-three, 65, and 136 nm-thick BPOs were adopted in this study. The dielectric constant is approximately 433 for Pt/PZT/BPO (23 nm), 443 for Pt/PZT/BPO (65 nm), and 466 for Pt/PZT/BPO (136 nm). The remanant polarization values in these three capacitors are 13.5, 14.9, and 10.9 mu C/cm(2), and the coercive field values are 76.6, 71.2, and 54.5 kV/cm, respectively. The fatigue endurance of PZT films decreases with the thickness of BPO. The thickness of BPO layer not only influences the crystallinity of PZT films, but also the a-domain populations in PZT films. The variation of resultant electrical properties is attributed partly to the improvement of crystallinity, and partly to the population of a-domain. The effect of the former is remarkable when the BPO is thin while the latter is dominant when the BPO is thick. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.