Dielectric properties of ZrTiO4 thin films synthesized by sol-gel method

ZrTiO4 thin films were successfully prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) substrates by a sol-gel process and gel films were heat-treated at various temperatures. The surface morphology, crystal structure, and dielectric properties of the thin films were investigated. It was possible to obtain ZrTiO4 phase at temperatures above 650 degreesC for 2 h, which is much lower than the bulk sintering temperature. The microstructure of well-crystallized ZrTiO4 thin films vias a fine-grained microstructure less than 70 nm in grain size and the surface morphology was smooth with 22.4 rms roughness. The dielectric constant and loss of ZrTiO4 thin films were 38 and 0.006, respectively for thin films with 450 nm thickness heat-treated at 900 degreesC for 2 h.