Epitaxial Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 thin films synthesized by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

Metal-organic chemical vapor deposition was used to prepare Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3 (PMN) thin films on (001) SrTiO3 and SrRuO3/SrTiO3 substrates, using solid Mg beta-diketonate as the Mg precursor. Parameters including the precursor ratio in the vapor phase, growth temperature, growth rate, and reaction pressure in the reactor chamber were varied in order to determine suitable growth conditions for producing phase-pure, epitaxial PMN films. A cube-on-cube orientation relationship between the thin film and the SrTiO3 substrate was found, with a (001) rocking curve width of 0.1 degrees, and in-plane rocking-curve width of 0.8 degrees. The root-mean-square surface roughness of a 200-nm-thick film on SrTiO3 was 2 to 3 nm as measured by scanning probe microscopy. The zero-bias dielectric constant and loss measured at room temperature and 10 kHz for a 200-nm-thick film on SrRuO3/SrTiO3 were approximately 1100 and 2%, respectively. The remnant polarization for this film was 16 mu C/cm(2). (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003- 6951(00)04321-7].