Chemical Processing of Potassium Substituted (Pb0.6Ba0.4)Nb2O6 Powders and Thin Films Through Metallo-Organics

Highly oriented tungsten bronze K_0.4(Pb_0.6Ba_0.4)_0.8Nb₂O₆ ferroelectric thin films have been prepared from metal alkoxides and metal acetate by chemical process. The formation of solid solution with potassium was found to be very effective to form the tungsten bronze phase at lower temperatures compared with (Pb_0.6Ba_0.4)Nb₂O₆. The amount of potassium in the composition of K_x(Pb_0.6Ba_0.4)_{1 – x/2}Nb₂O₆ [0 x 0.4] is also important to crystallize in the tungsten bronze phase. K_0.4(Pb_0.6Ba_0.4)_0.8Nb₂O₆ films with c-axis preferred orientation were successfully synthesized on MgO(1 0 0) and Pt(1 0 0)/MgO(1 0 0) substrates above 700°C. KPBN60 thin film on Pt(1 0 0)/MgO(1 0 0) showed a remnant polarization of 20 C/cm² and a coercive field of 140 kV/cm at –150°C.