Preparation of LiTaO3 Nano-Crystalline Films by Sol-Gel Process

Abstract

Lithium tantalite (LiTaO3) thin film material shows good feasibility and potential for the application of high-performance detection system. In this paper, sol-gel process of LiTaO3 thin films on p-type (111) silicon substrates was described. Stable precursor solution with a desired viscosity was obtained using lithium acetate (LiAc) and tantalum ethoxide (Ta(OC2H5)5) as starting materials. Heat treatment process was optimized to fabricate LiTaO3 films of high crystallinity. Higher crystalline quality films were obtained when each spin-coating process was followed by an annealing operation. Microstructures and crystallization properties of LiTaO3 thin films were further studied. Nano-crystalline films were obtained after annealing at 700 °C for 5 min. The experimental results indicated that the crystallinity and mean grain size of LiTaO3 thin films were proportional to the film thickness.