Abstract
The influence of Pt, RuO 2 and SrRuO 3 intermediate layers on the growth of (Sr 0.5 Ba 0.5 )Nb 2 O 6 (SBN) thin films and their related electrical properties has been examined. Crystalline SBN films on Pt-coated Si can be obtained at substrate temperatures higher than 720°C (1 mbar), whereas the formation of SBN films on RuO 2 -coated Si is difficult, due to the instability of the RuO 2 layer at high substrate temperatures. On the other hand, SrRuO 3 layers deposited at 600°C (0.1 mbar) not only possess good electrical conductivity (ρ s ≈ 0.5 mΩ·cm), making them suitable for use as base electrodes, but also have good lattice matching with SBN materials, which markedly enhances the formation of SBN films. However, a special procedure including the deposition of SBN thin films at 600°C (0.1 mbar) to preserve the perovskite phase of the predeposited SrRuO 3 layers, followed by postannealing at 750°C (1 atm) to fully crystallize the SBN materials, is required to obtain optimum multilayer films. The remanent polarization thus obtained is around P r = 2.8 μC/cm 2 and the leakage current density is around J 1 = 10 -7 A/cm 2 .