Thin Na-substituted Bi 4Ti 3O 12 films were grown by the liquid-delivery spin metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method with different concentrations of sodium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide [Na(TMSA)] as Na precursor. At a substrate temperature of 600 °C the original Aurivillius structure was preserved, however high resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) studies indicate that the Na-substituted phase exhibits a slightly smaller lattice parameter compared to the pure Bi 4Ti 3O 12 phase. From additional x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) results, we have concluded that monovalent Na + ions have been incorporated on Bi 3+ sites in the perovskite units. The proposed charge compensation for this aliovalent substitution is explained by a shift of the valence state of Bi 3+ ions in the vicinity of the incorporated Na + ions from 3+ to 5+. Due to the small ionic radius of the Bi 5+ ions, the incorporation efficiency amounts to a few atomic percent only.
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