Organometallic chemical vapour deposition is a suitable technique for the deposition of thin films of oxidic compounds such as lead zirconate titanate, PbZrxTi1−xO3. Above a deposition temperature of about 600°C stoichiometric PbZrxTi1−xO3films can be grown on platinized silicon wafers within a large process window, independent of the precursor partial pressures and the deposition temperature. This is the result of a self-regulating mechanism. The PbZrxTi1−xO3films have excellent ferroelectric properties exhibiting high values, up to 60μC/cm2, for the remanent polarisation. The value of the coercive field strength varies between 50 and 180 kV/cm, dependent on the composition. Layers with comparable properties can also be grown at lower temperatures, down to 500°C. In this case careful control of the gas-phase composition is required to obtain films with the correct stoichiometry.