Microstructural Architecture of (Ba,Sr)TiO3 Thin Films for Tunable Microwave Applications

Abstract

AbstractBaxSr1−xTiO3 (BST, x=0.5 and 0.6) thin films have been deposited onto (100) MgO single crystal substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The room temperature capacitance and dielectric quality factor (Q=1/tanδ have been measured as a function of electric field (≤ 100 kV/cm) at microwave frequencies (1 to 20 GHz) using silver interdigitated electrodes deposited on top of the BST film. It has been observed that the dielectric constant of the film and its change with electric field are closely related to film phase (amorphous to crystalline phase) and film strain which affects the ionic polarization of the film. Amorphous BST films show high dielectric Q (> 100) with low dielectric constant (∼30–200) and low dielectric tuning (< 1%), presumably due to small ionic polarization. Crystalline films have a higher dielectric constant (∼1000–3000) and a higher dielectric tuning (∼ 65%) but a lower dielectric Q (∼20). As an optimal microstructure of the film for tunable microwave applications, strain-relieved large-grained (∼5000 Å) randomly oriented polycrystalline films were deposited using a thin amorphous buffer layer of BST (∼50 Å). Very large grains (size up to a few microns) were observed in BST films prepared using a thicker amorphous buffer layer (∼500 Å). We will present results on how careful control of microstructure can lead to films with optimal dielectric properties for the tunable microwave devices.