Heteroepitaxial Growth of c-Axis-Oriented BaTiO3 Thin Films with an Atomically Smooth Surface

Abstract

C-axis-oriented barium titanate (BaTiO₃) epitaxial films with an atomically smooth surface have been fabricated on SrTiO₃{100} substrates using the pulsed laser deposition technique. The crystal structure and epitaxial orientation of the films have been analyzed by means of 2θ/θ X-ray diffractometry and 4-circle X-ray diffractometry. The highly oriented and epitaxial crystallinity is also shown by means of Rutherford backscattering spectrometry which gave a χ_min of 1.7%. The atomically smooth surface comparable to that of the SrTiO₃ substrate is revealed by means of atomic force microscopy. The breakdown electric field of the BaTiO₃ film is as high as 10⁶ V/cm.