Antiferroelectric lead zirconate (PZ) thin films were deposited by excimer laser ablation technique on Pt-coated Si substrates. Antiferroelectric thin film compositions are potential candidates for high charge storage and microelectromechanical systems. The antiferroelectric nature in PZ thin films was confirmed by means of double hysteresis behaviour in polarisation vs. applied electric held and double butterfly response in capacitance vs. applied voltage measurements. The maximum spontaneous polarisation observed was 37 muC/cm(2) with zero remnant polarisation at an applied electric held of 225 kV/cm. PZ thin films showed a polycrystalline multigrain structure and detail comprehensive study of dielectric relaxation and ac electrical properties were carried out.