Structural and dielectric investigation of thermal treated TiO2/ZrO2 composite thin films grown by chemical beam vapor deposition

Abstract

TiO2/ZrO2 (TZ) composite binary oxides thin films were synthesized by Chemical Beam Vapor Deposition technique with a combinatorial approach, followed by annealed at 600 °C for 1 h. Three different element compositions were used in the composite films, with TiO2/ZrO2 ratio of ∼80/20, ∼70/30 and ∼60/40 at.%. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the Zirconium titanate crystalline phase was predominated in the TZ composite films, particularly those with higher concentration of ZrO2. The TZ film with ∼60/40 at.% exhibited a maximum dielectric constant of ∼35, a loss tangent of ∼3 and a low leakage current density of ∼1.7 × 10−9A/cm2. These results suggest that the synergistic combination of TiO2 and ZrO2 makes them a potential candidate for capacitor applications.