Abstract
The structural, electronic and dielectric properties of high-quality ultrathin BaTiO3 films were investigated. The films, which were grown by ozone-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on Nb-doped SrTiO3(001) substrates and have thicknesses as low as 8 unit cells (u.c.) (3.2 nm), are unreconstructed and atomically smooth with large crystalline terraces. A strain-driven transition to three-dimensional (3D) island formation is observed for films of 13 u.c. thickness (5.2 nm). The high structural quality of the surfaces, together with dielectric properties similar to bulk BaTiO3 and dominantly TiO2 surface termination, makes these films suitable templates for the synthesis of high-quality metal-oxide multiferroic heterostructures for the fundamental study and exploitation of magneto-electric effects, such as a recently proposed interface effect in Fe/BaTiO3 heterostructures based on Fe–Ti interface bonds.
Highlights
Methods to address the atomistic structure, surface termination and dielectric properties is currently lacking, but is urgently required for the optimization of synthesis strategies and to achieve a significant performance increase in magneto-electric structures
We present a comprehensive study of the structural, dielectric and electronic properties of BaTiO3 films, which are only a few u.c. thick and grown on Nb-doped SrTiO3 substrates, with a combination of local probe methods and electron diffraction and spectroscopy
Our studies focus on BaTiO3 films of 8 and 13 u.c. thickness
Summary
Methods to address the atomistic structure, surface termination and dielectric properties is currently lacking, but is urgently required for the optimization of synthesis strategies and to achieve a significant performance increase in magneto-electric structures. This paper aims to fill this gap. We present a comprehensive study of the structural, dielectric and electronic properties of BaTiO3 films, which are only a few u.c. thick and grown on Nb-doped SrTiO3 substrates, with a combination of local probe methods and electron diffraction and spectroscopy. We will demonstrate that such films are superior to bulk BaTiO3 substrates regarding the structural quality at the surface, while still showing the dielectric properties of bulk BaTiO3. We propose that BaTiO3 thin films are suitable for fundamental research and applications, such as for the study of magneto-electric effects and magneto-tunnel junctions
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