Influence of annealing times on morphological characteristics of ceramic thin films by RF-magnetron sputtering using Zn-enriched (Ba0.3Sr0.7)(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 ceramic target

Abstract

The BaO–SrO–ZnO–Nb2O5 ceramic thin films have been deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering, using a Zn-enriched (Ba0.3Sr0.7) (Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 target, followed by annealing in O2 atmosphere at 1,200 °C for 15, 30, 45, and 60 min. The results show that the surface morphologies of samples are crack-free and compact with well-crystallized structures. Grain sizes of thin films annealed at different times increase with the increasing annealing times, and when the annealing time is of 45 and 60 min, the grains change from spherical shape to columnar shape. RMS values of the thin films decrease with the increase in the annealing times from 15 to 30 min, while the RMS values increase with the increase in the annealing times from 30 to 60 min.