Dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the Ba0.92Ca0.08Ti0.95Zr0.05O3 thin films grown on different substrate

• Effect of substrate on structure and electric property of BCZT film was investigated.
• Highly 110 and 100 orientations were obtained by depositing on different substrate.
• High d33 = 50 pm/V and low tan δ = 0.02 were obtained for 110 oriented BCZT films.
• High tunability of 64% was obtained for 100 oriented BCZT films.

Lead free Ba0.92Ca0.08Ti0.95Zr0.05O3 (BCZT) thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si and LaNiO3(LNO)/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by a sol–gel processing technique, respectively. The effects of substrate on structure, dielectric and piezoelectric properties were investigated in detail. The BCZT thin films deposited on LNO/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates exhibit (100) orientation, larger grain size and higher dielectric tunability (64%). The BCZT thin films deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si exhibit (110) orientation, higher Curie temperature (75 °C), better piezoelectric property (d33 of 50 pm/V) and lower dielectric loss (0.02). The differences in dielectric and piezoelectric properties in the two kinds of oriented BCZT films should be attributed to the difference of structure, in-plane stress and polarization rotation in orientation engineered BCZT films.