Fabrication of CaLa4(Zr0.05Ti0.95)4O15 thin films by RF magnetron sputtering

Crystalline CaLa4(Zr0.05Ti0.95)(4)O-15 thin films deposited on n-type Si substrates byRF magnetron sputtering at a fixed RF power of 100 W, an Ar/O-2 ratio of 100/0, an operating pressure of 3 mTorr, and different substrate temperatures were investigated. The surface structural and morphological characteristics analyzed by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy were sensitive to the deposition conditions, such as the substrate temperature. The diffraction pattern showed that the deposited films had a polycrystalline microstructure. As the substrate temperature increased, the quality of the CaLa4(Zr0.05Ti0.95)(4)O-15 thin films improved, and the kinetic energies of the sputtered atoms increased, resulting in a structural improvement of the deposited CaLa4(Zr0.05Ti0.95)(4)O-15 thin films. A high dielectric constant of 16.7 (f=1 MHz), a dissipation factor of 0.19 (f=1 MHz), and a low leakage current density of 3.18 x 10(-7) A/cm(2) at an electrical field of 50 kV/cm were obtained for the prepared films. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.