Fabrication and characterization of intergrown Bi4Ti3O12-based thin films using a metal-organic precursor solution

Ferroelectric intergrowth-structured Bi4Ti3O12-based thin films have been fabricated by chemical solution deposition. Bi4Ti3O12–SrBi4Ti4O15 (BiT–SBTi) and SrBi2Nb2O9–Bi4Ti3O12 (SBN–BiT) precursor films crystallized in the desired intergrown BiT–SBTi and SBN–BiT structures on Pt/TiOx/SiO2/Si substrates by optimizing the processing conditions. Synthesized BiT–SBTi and SBN–BiT thin films exhibited ferroelectric P–E hysteresis loops. The BiT–SBTi thin films crystallized at 750 °C showed a 2Pr value approximately 20 μC/cm2. Although a little smaller Pr value was observed for the SBN–BiT thin films, the squareness of a P–E hysteresis loop was superior to that of BiT–SBTi thin films. Also, the SBN–BiT thin films had a smoother surface morphology compared with BiT–SBTi thin films.