Preparation and characterization of epitaxial-grown Ba0.65Sr0.35TiO3 thin films by the sol-gel process on Pt/MgO substrates

Epitaxial-grown barium-strontium-titanate (BST, Ba0.65Sr0.35TiO3) thin films have been successfully deposited on Pt/MgO (100) substrates using sol-gel techniques. Crack-free 350-nm-thick films were fabricated using a multilayer spinning technique and calcination at 650degreesC in oxygen for 1 hr. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed that (001) planes of BST films were mainly laid parallel to Pt (100) and MgO (100). The dielectric constant and dissipation factor for BST thin films at a frequency of 10 kHz were 480 and 0.02, respectively. The results of the temperature-dependence of the dielectric constant and dissipation factor showed that sol-gel-derived BST films had Curie temperatures of about 35degreesC and diffused ferroelectric phase transition characteristics. The leakage current density through the BST films was about 2.75 x 10(-7) A/cm(2) at an applied voltage of 3 V. The BST films exhibited a well-saturated ferroelectric hysteresis loop with remnant polarization P-r = 2.8 muC/cm(2) and coercive field E-c = 52 kV/cm.