Microstructure and electric properties of (104)/(014)-oriented Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 films on Pt (111)/Ti/SiO2/Si by sol–gel method

Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 (BNdT) thin films with predominant (104)/(014) orientation were fabricated directly on (111)Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates through a sol–gel process. The volume fraction of (104)/(014)-oriented grains in the film was estimated to be about 65% according to X-ray pole figure. The BNdT film is dense and uniform and consists of columnar grains penetrating the whole film thickness. The (104)/(014)-oriented BNdT film capacitors showed excellent ferroelectric properties with 2Pr = 46.4 μC/cm2 and Ec ≈ 140 kV/cm. The films also exhibit excellent piezoelectric property, with high piezoelectric coefficient d33 ≈ 17 pm/V.