Epitaxial ferroelectric PbZr _0.2 Ti _0.8 O ₃ thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition. PbZr _0.2 Ti _0.8 O ₃ was doped with Cr acting as acceptor ion. Microstructural characterization was performed by (high resolution) transmission electron microscopy. The voltage dependence of polarization, dielectric constant, and leakage current were measured with respect to the Cr content. To derive the electronic properties, PZT was considered as a wide-gap semiconductor which allows treating the metal-PZT interface as a Schottky contact. The Cr was found to facilitate the elastic relaxation of the film. Furthermore, the leakage current was increased through a reduction of the Schottky barrier.