Abstract

Bi-layered perovskite SrBi 2Nb 2O 9 (SBN) thin films have been deposited on Si (1 0 0) substrates by metalorganic decomposition technique. The SBN thin films were post-annealed at 700°C in a pre-heated annealing condition for the investigation of crystallization processes. A high-resolution transmission electron microscopy study showed a nucleation process and a grain growth mechanism of the SBN thin films from a fluorite-like phase to a Bi-layered perovskite phase. In an initial stage of the nucleation process, adjacent 10 nm-sized fluorite-like grains that were slightly misaligned were phase-transformed to a Bi-layered perovskite grain, when a lot of defects such as antiphase boundaries (APBs) were induced due to a little misalignment of the adjacent grains. After a further annealing process, the grain size of the Bi-layered perovskite phase becomes about 0.2–0.3 μm and many defects such as APBs have considerably diminished. This grain growth behavior is totally different from a conventional elliptical growth model, which occurred at the point of a grain growth mechanism and a change of the grain shape. Moreover, the surface morphology of the SBN thin film was remarkably improved compared with that of the elliptically grown SBN thin films.

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