Impact of NiOx Buffer Layers on the Dielectric Properties of BaTiO3 Thin Films on Nickel Substrates Fabricated by Polymer Assisted Deposition

Structural health monitoring with piezoelectric thin films integrated on structural metals shows great advantages for potential applications. However, the integration of piezoelectric thin films on structure metals is still challenged. In this paper, we report the piezoelectric barium titanate [BaTiO3 (BTO)] thin films deposited on polycrystalline Ni substrates by the polymer assisted deposition (PAD) method using NiOx as the buffer layers. The NiOx buffer layers with different thicknesses were prepared by varying immersing time from 5 minutes to 4 hours in H2O2 solution. The dielectric and leakage current properties of the thin films have been studied by general test systems. The BTO/Ni heterostructure with 2-hour immersing time exhibits better dielectric properties with a dielectric constant over 1500 and a 34.8% decrease of the dielectric loss compared to that with 5-minute immersing time. The results show that the leakage current density is strongly affected by the thickness of the NiOx buffer layer. The conduction mechanisms of the BTO/Ni heterostructure have been discussed according to the J-V characteristic curves.