Ba 1− xSr xTiO 3 thin films by polymeric precursor method

Abstract

Stoichiometric Ba 1− x Sr x TiO 3 (BST; x=0.4) thin films were prepared by the polymeric precursor method. High quality polycrystalline films of BST with low roughness (≈3 nm) were obtained from a Pt/Ti/SiO 2/Si substrate deposited by spin-coating technique. Microstructure and morphological evaluation were done using grazing incident X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Grazing incident angle XRD characterization of these films showed that BST phase crystallizes at 600°C from an inorganic amorphous matrix. No intermediate crystalline phase was identified. A linear relationship between roughness and grain size was observed.