Crystallographic orientation dependence of dielectric response in lead strontium titanate thin films

•Pb0.6Sr0.4TiO3 films with different orientations were prepared on LaNiO3 electrode.•The orientation strongly affects the dielectric response and structure of the films.•The preferential (111)-orientation film shows the largest tunability of 84% at 400 kV/cm.

This investigation presents the growth of (100), (110) and preferential (111)-oriented Pb0.6Sr0.4TiO3 thin films prepared on different orientations LaNiO3 buffered silicon substrates via radio-frequency magnetron sputtering method. The effects of the orientation on microstructure and dielectric response were systematically investigated. The capacitance–voltage property versus the crystallographic orientation analysis revealed that preferential (111)-orientation film possesses the largest relative permittivity and tunability of 1180 and 84% (at 400 kV/cm) respectively, which are much higher than those of (100)- and (110)-oriented thin films. These results suggest preferential (111)-orientation films as promising candidates for microwave tunable devices.