Strontium Barium Niobate Thin Films Prepared by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Abstract

ABSTRACTStrontium barium niobate Sr0.55Ba0.45Nb2O6 thin films were prepared on Si (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The film composition was determined as a function of the fluence φ and wavelength λ of the laser beam, the oxygen ambient pressure Po2 and the substrate temperature Ts. The results show that the film composition is very close to that of the target, and is almost independent of φ from 1 to 8 J cm−2, λ = 355, 532 and 1064 nm, Po2 from 0 to 150 mTorr, and Ts from 25 to 700°C. These results suggest that PLD is excellent for preparing SBN films with compositions congruent to that of the target. The x-ray diffraction data show that all the samples deposited at room temperature are amorphous. The x-ray diffraction results also indicate that the samples deposited at 700°C have a tungsten-bronze-(TB-) type structure with preferred crystallite orientation, while the room-temperature-deposited samples after annealing at 800°C for 30 minutes are polycrystalline and have random crystallite orientation.