Epitaxial growth of BaTiO3 thin films by high gas pressure sputtering

Abstract

Heteroepitaxial BaTiO3 thin films with lattice-misfit strain were prepared on SrRuO3/SrTiO3 substrates by rf magnetron sputtering under high gas pressure, in order to realize large area deposi-tion with uniform ferroelectric properties. Lattice constants, composition and ferroelectric properties of the epitaxial BaTiO3 films were characterized as a function of pressure as well as the incident angle of sputtered particles, under the assumption that the sputtered particles were eradiated from the eroded area of the target surface. Although ferroelectric properties of films sputtered under low gas pressure had remarkable place dependability, they have been drastically improved by high gas pressure sputtering. X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that the BaTiO3 film deposited with a pressure of 6.3 Pa had a large lattice strain of 5%, even though the substrate was placed at a position directly facing the erosion area of the target, where a number of high-energy ions such as oxygen ions are thought to collide against the film surface if the pressure is low. The BaTiO3 film exhibited a ferroelectric hysteresis loop with remnant polarization of 43 μC/cm2. These results indicate that high gas pressure sputtering is effective for achieving large area uniformity of ferroelectric properties in heteroepitaxial BaTiO3 thin films.