Structural Characterization of Pulsed Laser Deposited Ktn Thin Films

Abstract

AbstractThe renewed interest in KTa1−xNbxO (KTN) mixed perovskite materials, especially in thin films of a high quality, is connected with their remarkable dielectric properties in the dilute compositions. Off-center Nb ions in the highly polarizable KTaO3 lattice provide a drastic increase in the dielectric peak up to 20 times in comparison with pure KTaO3 and KNbO3. We prepared KTN thin films with several Nb concentrations in the range of 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 by pulsed laser deposition from semented KTaO3, KNbO3 and KNO3 targets. The effect of the substrate and symmetry-breaking defects was studied by micro-Raman spectroscopy. An anomalous residual intensity of the forbidden first-order scattering modes in the cubic paraelectric phase of the KTN films was connected with the formation of polar microregions even far above the bulk Tc value. On the whole, the KTN film behavior shows the existence of specific defects enlarging the perovskite unit cell in the film so that the activity of off-center Nb ions increases in producing larger electric dipoles and extending the precursor phase above Tc.