Chemical and microstructural characterization of rf-sputtered BaTiO3 nano-capacitors with Ni electrodes

► Sputter deposited BaTiO3 nano-capacitors ∼100 nm thick were characterized. ► AFM and SEM confirmed the films to be smooth and conformal with no macro-defects such as pores or cracks. ► TEM and XRD indicate the films were either amorphous or nanocrystalline. ► XPS showed the films had excess oxygen and Ba:Ti ratios ranging from 0.78 to 1.1. ► No correlation between the chemical/microstructural features and dielectric properties (permittivity up to ∼1000 and losses below 0.1).