A low temperature synthetic method, which combines metal-organic decomposition and a rim-seeding technique, was applied to the fabrication of barium strontium titanate (BST) nano-particle/amorphous lead zirconate titanate (PZT) composite thin films. A metal-organic solution of PZT was mixed with a suspension of BST nano-crystalline particles to prepare a precursor solution. The mixed solution was spin-coated on a Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate and annealed at various temperatures to prepare composite thin films with a thickness around 300 nm. Organic components in the films decomposed at 350 degrees C, and the composite film of PZT amorphous and BST nano-crystalline particles could be prepared at this temperature. The film had smooth surface with a root mean square roughness less than 20 mm. The dielectric constant and dissipation factor of the composite thin films at 10 kHz obtained 70 and 0.036, respectively. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.