Development of crack free BLT thick films by chemical solution deposition technique

• Synthesis of BLT thick films by sol gel technology
• Application of organo-polymeric additives to obtain crack free BLT thick films
• Characterization of structural properties by XRD, AFM and TEM
• Characterization of ferroelectric properties
• Ferroelectric properties obtained for BLT thick films comparable to that reported in literature

Crack free (Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12) BLT film of ~ 1 μm thickness was deposited on Pt/Si(100) wafer by sol–gel methodology using a polymeric additive: polyvinyl pyrrolidone. The remnant polarization and coercive field values measured from the P–E hysteresis loops for BLT films annealed at 650 °C and 700 °C were 10 μC/cm2, 110 kV/cm and 11.5 μC/cm2, 111.5 kV/cm, respectively. The leakage current in the BLT film was remarkably low up to an electric field of 150 kV/cm for which the measured leakage current density was 2.5 × 10− 6 A/cm2. The leakage current behavior showed Ohmic conduction in the low-field region and was dominated by space charge in the high-field region.