Structure, dielectric and ferroelectric properties of highly (1 0 0)-oriented BaTiO3 grown under low-temperature conditions

The highly (1 0 0)-oriented BaTiO3 thin films were fabricated on LaNiO3(1 0 0)/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates under low-temperature conditions. Substrate temperatures throughout the fabrication process remained at or below 400 °C, which allows this process to be compatible with many materials commonly used in integrated circuit manufacturing. X-ray diffraction data provided the evidence for single BaTiO3 phase. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy was used to study the columnar structure of the films. The dielectric properties as a function of frequency in the range of 1 kHz to 1 MHz was obtained. The room temperature remanent polarization (2Pr) and coercive field were found to be ∼5 μC/cm2 and 50 kV/cm, respectively. The BTO film maintains an excellent fatigue-free character even after 109 switching cycles.