Influence of substrate temperature on structures and dielectric properties of pyrochlore Bi1.5Zn1.0Nb1.5O7 thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

The influence of substrate temperature on structural and dielectric properties of cubic pyrochlore Bi_1.5Zn_1.0Nb_1.5O₇ (BZN) thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition process has been investigated. BZN thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si(1 0 0) substrate and in situ annealed at 700 °C. The results indicate that the substrate temperature has a significant effect on the structural and dielectric properties of BZN thin films. The films exhibit a cubic pyrochlore structure in the substrate temperature range from 550 °C to 700 °C and at the annealing temperature of 700 °C. With further increase of substrate temperature to 750 °C, the phases of Bi₂O₃, BiNbO₄ and Bi₅Nb₃O₁₅ can be detected in the XRD pattern due to the Zn loss. The dielectric constant and loss tangent of the films deposited at 650 °C are 192 and 6 × 10⁻⁴ at 10 kHz, respectively. The tunability is 10% at a dc bias field of 0.9 MV/cm.     

Effect of oxygen pressure on structure and properties of Bi1.5Zn1.0Nb1.5O7 pyrochlore thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

The Bi₂O₃-ZnO-Nb₂O₅ (BZN) cubic pyrochlore thin films were prepared on Pt/TiO₂/SiO₂/Si(1 0 0) substrates by using pulsed laser deposition process. The oxygen pressure was varied in the range of 5-50 Pa to investigate its effect on the structure and dielectric properties of BZN thin films. It is found that oxygen pressure during deposition plays an important role on structure and other properties of BZN films. The BZN films deposited at temperature of 650 °C and at O₂ pressure of 5 Pa have an amorphous BZN and Nb₂O₅ phases but exhibits a cubic pyrochlore structure with a preferential (2 2 2) orientation when the oxygen pressure increases to 10 Pa. Dielectric constant and loss tangent of the films deposited at 10 Pa are 185 and 0.0008 at 10 kHz, respectively. The dielectric tunability is about 10% at a dc bias field of 0.9 MV/cm.     

Bismuth zinc niobate (Bi1.5ZnNb1.5O7) ceramics derived from metallo-organic decomposition precursor solution

The preparation, microstructure development and dielectric properties of Bi_1.5ZnNb_1.5O₇ pyrochlore ceramics by metallo-organic decomposition (MOD) route are reported. Homogeneous precalcined ceramic powders of 13-36 nm crystallite size were obtained at temperatures ranging from 500 to 700 °C. The thermal decomposition/oxidation of the gelled precursor solution was chemically analyzed, TG/DTA, XRD, and SEM, led to the formation of a pure cubic pyrochlore phase with a stoichiometry close to Bi_1.5ZnNb_1.5O₇ which begins to form at 500 °C. The metallo-organic precursor synthesis method, where Bi, Zn and Nb ions are chelated to form metal complexes, allows the control of Bi/Zn/Nb stoichiometric ratio on a molecular scale leading to the rapid formation of bismuth zinc niobate (Bi_1.5ZnNb_1.5O₇) ceramic fine powders with pure pyrochlore structure. The powders were pressed into pellets and can be sintered at temperatures as low as 800-1000 °C. Fine crystalline ceramics with the grain size in the range of 200-500 nm have been obtained at the sintering temperature of 800 °C. The dielectric properties in high frequency to microwave range were measured and discussed.     

Dielectric properties of continuous composition spreaded MgO-Ta2O5 thin films

The dielectric properties of MgO-Ta₂O₅ continuous composition spread (CCS) thin films were investigated. The MgO-Ta₂O₅ CCS thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates by off-Axis RF magnetron sputtering system, and then the films were annealed at 350 °C with rapid thermal annealing system in vacuum. The dielectric constant and loss of MgO-Ta₂O₅ CCS thin films were plotted via 1500 micron-step measuring. The specific point of Ta₂O₅-MgO CCS thin film (post annealed at 350 °C) showing superior dielectric properties of high dielectric constant (k ∼ 28) and low dielectric loss (tan δ < 0⋅004) at 1 MHz were found in the area of 3-5 mm apart from Ta₂O₅ side on the substrate. The cation's composition of thin film was Mg:Ta = 0.4:2 at%.     

Mg diffusion in K(Ta0.65Nb0.35)O3 thin films grown on MgO evidenced by Auger electron spectroscopy investigation

The diffusion of Mg in pulsed laser deposited K(Ta_0.65Nb_0.35)O₃ thin films epitaxially grown on (1 0 0) MgO single crystal substrate were investigated by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). A diffusion of Mg from the substrate into the whole thickness (400 nm) of the as-deposited K(Ta_0.65Nb_0.35)O₃ films was observed with an accumulation of Mg at the surface. Ex situ post-annealing (750 °C/2 h) has led to a homogeneous distribution of Mg in all the ferroelectric coating. This strong reaction between film and substrate promotes a doping effect, responsible for the reduction of K(Ta_0.65Nb_0.35)O₃ dielectric losses in comparison with films grown on other substrates.     

Laser-induced voltage characteristics of Bi2Sr2Co2Oy thin films on LaAlO3 substrates

We report the laser-induced voltage (LIV) effects in c-axis oriented Bi₂Sr₂Co₂O_y thin films grown on (0 0 1) LaAlO₃ substrates with the title angle α of 0°, 3°, 5° and 10° by a simple chemical solution deposition method. A large open-circuit voltage with the sensitivity of 300 mV/mJ is observed for the film on 10° tilting LaAlO₃ under a 308 nm irradiation with the pulse duration of 25 ns. When the film surface is irradiated by a 355 nm pulsed laser of 25 ps duration, a fast response with the rise time of 700 ps and the full width at half maximum of 1.5 ns is achieved. In addition, the experimental results reveal that the amplitude of the voltage signal is approximately proportional to sin 2α and the signal polarity is reversed when the film is irradiated from the substrate side rather than the film side, which suggests the LIV effects in Bi₂Sr₂Co₂O_y thin films originate from the anisotropic Seebeck coefficient of this material.     

Ferroelectric properties of Pr and Nb co-substituted Sr0.8Bi2.2Ta2O9 thin films

Thin film of both A- and B-site co-substituted Sr_0.8Bi_2.2Ta₂O₉ (SBT) by Pr³⁺ and Nb⁵⁺, i.e. Sr_0.8Pr_0.1Bi_2.1Ta_1.5Nb_0.5O₉ (SPBTN) was fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates by metalorganic decomposition method. The Nb⁵⁺ substitution at B-site and Pr³⁺ substitution at A-site enhanced the remanent polarization and reduced the coercive field of the films, respectively. The remanent polarization (2P_r) value of the SPBTN film was 22 μC/cm². The coercive field (2E_c) value of the SPBTN film was 102 kV/cm, which was much lower than that of SBTN (165 kV/cm). The effects of substitution on structural and ferroelectric properties of SBT were discussed in detail. As a result, the A- and B-sites co-substitution may be one of the promising ways to improve ferroelectric properties of SBT.     

Formation of highly textured (1 1 1) Bi2O3 films by anodization of electrodeposited bismuth films

Highly textured bismuth oxide (Bi₂O₃) thin films have been prepared using anodic oxidation of electrodeposited bismuth films onto stainless steel substrates. The Bi₂O₃ films were uniform and adherent to substrate. The Bi₂O₃ films were characterized for their structural and electrical properties by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), electrical resistivity and dielectric measurement techniques. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed that Bi₂O₃ films are highly textured along (1 1 1) plane. The room temperature electrical resistivity of the Bi₂O₃ films was 10⁵ Ω cm. Dielectric measurement revealed normal oxide behavior with frequency.     

Electrical behavior of BaZr0.1Ti0.9O3 and BaZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin films

BaZr_0.1Ti_0.9O₃ and BaZr_0.2Ti_0.8O₃ (BZT) thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/LaAlO₃ (1 0 0) substrates by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering, respectively. The films were further annealed at 800 °C for 30 min in oxygen. X-ray diffraction θ-2θ and Φ-scans showed that BaZr_0.1Ti_0.9O₃ films displayed a highly (h 0 0) preferred orientation and a good cube-on-cube epitaxial growth on the LaAlO₃ (1 0 0) substrate, while there are no obvious preferential orientation in BaZr_0.2Ti_0.8O₃ thin films. The BaZr_0.1Ti_0.9O₃ films possess larger grain size, higher dielectric constant, larger tunability, larger remanent polarization and coercive electric field than that of BaZr_0.2Ti_0.8O₃ films. Whereas, BaZr_0.1Ti_0.9O₃ films have larger dielectric losses and leakage current density. The results suggest that Zr⁴⁺ ion can decrease dielectric constant and restrain non-linearity. Moreover, the enhancement in dielectric properties of BaZr_0.1Ti_0.9O₃ films may be attributed to (1 0 0) preferred orientation.     

Optical properties of surface-modified Bi2O3 nanoparticles

Stearic acid coated Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles in the size range of 5-13 nm were synthesized by the microemulsion method. HRTEM showed that the morphology of Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles was ellipsoidal. The absorption edge of Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles showed a blue shift of ∼0.45 eV, comparing with that of the bulk Bi₂O₃. At room temperature, Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles also showed a strong luminescence at 397 and 420 nm, depending on the excitation wavelength.     

Oxygen ion diffusion measurements in Bi0.775La0.225O1.5

The oxygen transport properties of the Bi_0.775La_0.225O_1.5 electrolyte material have been investigated. Isotopic exchange depth profiling (IEDP) technique with secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) was used in order to measure the oxygen tracer diffusion coefficient D. The activation energy for oxygen tracer diffusion was found to be 115 ± 2 kJ/mol (1.19 ± 0.02 eV). The measured D values were converted using the Nernst-Einstein relationship to conductivity and compared with data from AC Impedance. The agreement of the two sets of data implies that the material is an oxygen ion conductor.     

Orientation-dependent dielectric properties of Ba(Sn0.15Ti0.85)O3 thin films prepared by sol-gel method

The orientation-dependent dielectric properties of barium stannate titanate (Ba(Sn_0.15Ti_0.85)O₃, BTS) thin films grown on (1 0 0) LaAlO₃ single-crystal substrates through sol-gel process were investigated. The nonlinear dielectric properties of the BTS films were measured using an inter-digital capacitor (IDC). The results show that the in-plane dielectric properties of BTS films exhibited a strong sensitivity to orientation. The upward shift of Curie temperature (T_c) of the highly (1 0 0)-oriented BTS thin films is believed to be attributing to a tensile stress along the in-plane direction inside the film. A high tunability of 47.03% was obtained for the highly (1 0 0)-oriented BTS films, which is about three times larger than that of the BTS films with random orientation, measured at a frequency of 1 MHz and an applied electric field of 80 kV/cm. This work clearly reveals the highly promising potential of BTS films for application in tunable microwave devices.     

Dependence of excess bismuth content in precursor sols on ferroelectric and dielectric properties of Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 thin films fabricated by chemical solution deposition

Bi_3.25La_0.75Ti₃O₁₂ (BLT) thin films were fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si(1 0 0) substrates by chemical solution deposition (CSD), and the dependence of ferroelectric and dielectric properties of the as-deposited BLT thin films on excess Bi content in precursor sols was studied. It is found that the prepared BLT thin film shows the best polarization-electric field, capacitance-voltage and dielectric constant (?_r)-frequency characteristics, when the value of excess Bi content in precursor sols is 10%. In detail, its remnant polarization (2P_r) value is 40 μC/cm², the capacitance tunability is 21% measured at room temperature under conditions of an applied voltage of 8 V and measurement frequency of 10 kHz, and the ?_r is 696 at 100 kHz frequency.     

Low temperature fired Ni-Cu-Zn ferrite with Bi4Ti3O12

The Ni-Cu-Zn ferrites with different contents of Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ ceramics (1-8 wt%) as sintering additives were prepared by the usual ceramic technology and sintered at 900 °C to adapt to the low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. The magnetic and dielectric properties of the ferrite can be effectively improved with the effect of an appropriate amount of Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂. For all samples, the ferrite sintered with 2 wt% Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ has relatively high density (98.8%) and permeability, while the ferrite with 8 wt% Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ has relatively good dielectric properties in a wide frequency range. The influences of Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ addition on microstructure, magnetic and dielectric properties of the ferrite have been discussed.     

Dielectric spectroscopy on Bi3Zn2Sb3O14 ceramic: an approach based on the complex impedance

The dielectric properties and loss of Bi_1.5ZnSb_1.5O₇ a poor-semiconducting ceramic were investigated by impedance spectroscopy, in the frequency range from 5 Hz to 13 MHz. Electric measurements were performed from 100 to 700 °C. Pyrochlore type phase was synthesized by the polymeric precursor method. Dense ceramic with 97% of the theoretical density was prepared by sintering via constant heating rate. The dielectric permittivity dependence as a function of frequency and temperature showed a strong dispersion at frequency lower than 10 kHz. The losses exhibit slight dependence with the frequency at low temperatures presenting a strong increase at temperatures higher than 400 °C. A decrease of the loss magnitude occurs with increasing frequency. Relaxation times were extracted using the dielectric functions Z″(ω) and M″(ω). The plots of the relaxation times τ_Z′ and τ_M″ as a function of temperature follow the Arrhenius law, where a single slope is observed with activation energy values equal to 1.38 and 1.37 eV, respectively.     

Multiferroic properties of Bi0.8La0.2FeO3/CoFe2O4 multilayer thin films

Bi_0.8La_0.2FeO₃/CoFe₂O₄ (BLFO/CFO) multilayer thin films (totally 20 layers BLFO and 19 layers CFO) were prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates by pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope measurements show that the films are polycrystalline and consisted of multilayered structure. Ferroelectric hysteresis loops with remnant polarization and saturated polarization of 4.2 and 13.3 μC/cm², respectively, were observed. On the other hand, the films show well-shaped magnetization hysteresis loops with saturated and remnant magnetization of 34.7 and 11.4 emu/cm³, respectively, which are significantly larger than pure BLFO thin films deposited under the same conditions. These results indicate that constructing epitaxial superlattice might be a promising way to fabricate multiferroics with improved properties.     

Epitaxial growth and structural characterization of Pb(Fe1/2Nb1/2)O3 thin films

We have grown lead iron niobate thin films with composition Pb(Fe_1/2Nb_1/2)O₃ (PFN) on (0 0 1) SrTiO₃ substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The influence of the deposition conditions on the phase purity was studied. Due to similar thermodynamic stability spaces, a pyrochlore phase often coexists with the PFN perovskite phase. By optimizing the kinetic parameters, we succeeded in identifying a deposition window which resulted in epitaxial perovskite-phase PFN thin films with no identifiable trace of impurity phases appearing in the X-ray diffractograms. PFN films having thicknesses between 20 and 200 nm were smooth and epitaxially oriented with the substrate and as demonstrated by RHEED streaks which were aligned with the substrate axes. X-ray diffraction showed that the films were completely c-axis oriented and of excellent crystalline quality with low mosaicity (X-ray rocking curve FWHM?0.09°). The surface roughness of thin films was also investigated by atomic force microscopy. The root-mean-square roughness varies between 0.9 nm for 50-nm-thick films to 16 nm for 100-nm-thick films. We also observe a correlation between grain size, surface roughness and film thickness.     

Maxwell-Wagner characterization of dielectric relaxation in Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4/Sr0.5Ba0.5Nb2O6 composite

Dense composites were prepared through incorporating the dispersed Ni_0.8Zn_0.2Fe₂O₄ ferromagnetic particles into Sr_0.5Ba_0.5Nb₂O₆ ferroelectric matrix. Extrinsic dielectric relaxation and associated high permittivities of the materials are reported in the composites. We used an ideal equivalent circuit to explain electrical responses in impedance formalism. A Debye-like relaxation in the permittivity formalism was also found. Interestingly, real permittivity (ε′) of the sample containing 30% Ni_0.8Zn_0.2Fe₂O₄ shows obvious independence of the temperature at 100 kHz. Dielectric relaxation and high-ε′ properties of the composites are explained in terms of the Maxwell-Wagner (MW) polarization model.     

Microstructure and dielectric properties of La2O3 doped amorphous SiO2 films as gate dielectric material

As a potential gate dielectric material, the La₂O₃ doped SiO₂ (LSO, the mole ratio is about 1:5) films were fabricated on n-Si (0 0 1) substrates by using pulsed laser deposition technique. By virtue of several measurements, the microstructure and electrical properties of the LSO films were characterized. The LSO films keep the amorphous state up to a high annealing temperature of 800 °C. From HRTEM and XPS results, these La atoms of the LSO films do not react with silicon substrate to form any La-compound at interfacial layer. However, these O atoms of the LSO films diffuse from the film toward the silicon substrate so as to form a SiO₂ interfacial layer. The thickness of SiO₂ layer is only about two atomic layers. A possible explanation for interfacial reaction has been proposed. The scanning electron microscope image shows the surface of the amorphous LSO film very flat. The LSO film shows a dielectric constant of 12.8 at 1 MHz. For the LSO film with thickness of 3 nm, a small equivalent oxide thickness of 1.2 nm is obtained. The leakage current density of the LSO film is 1.54 × 10⁻⁴ A/cm² at a gate bias voltage of 1 V.