MICROSTRUCTURES OF SPUTTERED PBTIO3 THIN-FILMS

Ultrathin stoichiometric PbTio3 films, 10–100 nm thick, were deposited on (001) SrTiO3 substrate at 600 °C by rf planar magnetron sputtering to understand the micro structure of initial film growth. The electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction analysis suggested epitaxial growth of (001) PbTio3/(001) SrTiO3 with three-dimensional crystal orientation; however, the PbTio3 films still included crystalboundaries. Miscut (001) SrTiO3 substrates reduced the crystal boundaries and provided continuous ultrathin films of single crystal PbTio3. Rapid thermal annealing at 600 °C for 10 s further improved their crystallinity. © 1995, American Vacuum Society. All rights reserved.