Structure and ferroelectric properties of barium titanate films synthesized by sol-gel method

The barium strontium titanate (Ba(0.7)Sr(0.3)TiO(3), BST) thin films were synthesized by a sol-gel technique on a silicon nanoporous pillar array (Si-NPA) substrate. SEM observation reveals that the as-prepared BST thin film has uniformly covered the inherited pillar-like surface of the Si-NPA substrate. X-ray diffraction analysis indicates that the perovskite phase was able to be generated in the BST film when the annealing temperature was higher than 600 degrees C. The remnant polarization (Pr) and coercive field (Ec) values were also found to increase with the annealing temperature, with the maxima of 4.57 mu Ccm(-2) for Pr and 7.61 kV mm(-1) for Ec at 800 degrees C, respectively. The measurement of leakage current density against voltage applied suggested that the BST films are excellent insulators along with fair resistance to breakdown, and the mechanism of leakage current was discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.