A metallic target was utilized to produce lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films by reactive DC pulsed magnetron sputtering on either Ti/Pt(111)/Ti-coated Si wafers at 490 °C or optical glass fibers at 500 °C. Multicrystalline PZT thin films were obtained by applying both conventional annealing (CA) at 650–720 °C in air and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 550–700 °C in vacuum. The morphological, structural, and chemical properties of post-annealed PZT have been examined as a function of the annealing temperature and time. Homogeneous, dense and crack-free specimens were produced by CA at 690 °C for 2 h. Low micro-crack formation was observed when PZT-coated wafers were annealed at 550–700 °C by applying RTA. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals an excess of Pb in the top layer of the surface. The chemical environments of the elements did not change significantly during annealing. First …