Significant suppression of leakage current in (Ba x,Sr1-x)TiO3/MgO heterostructured thin films by thin MgO layers insertion

The leakage behavior and dielectric property of BST80/MgO heterostructured thin films deposited on LaNiO3 (LNO)/Si substrates by sol-gel were investigated. The dielectric constant and the leakage current are modified by MgO insertion. The dramatic reduction in the leakage current effectively increased the charge retention of the capacitors consisted of heterostructured thin films as compared to the pure BST films. The significant reduction in the leakage current can be attributed to the minute solid solubility of MgO in the BST lattice and the potential barrier built in the interface between BST and MgO layers in the heterostructured thin films.