Low temperature processing and chacterization of SrBi₂Nb₂O₉ thin films grown by pulsed laser ablation

Abstract

Ex-situ grown thin films of SrBi₂Nb₂O₉ (SBN) were deposited on platinum substrates using laser ablation technique. A low substrate-temperature-processing route was chosen to avoid any diffusion of bismuth into the Pt electrode. It was observed that the as grown films showed an oriented growth along the 'c'-axis (with zero spontaneous polarization). The as grown films were subsequently annealed to enhance crystallization. Upon annealing, these films transformed into a polycrystalline structure, and exhibited excellent ferroelectric properties. The switching was made to be possible by lowering the thickness without losing the electrically insulating behavior of the films. The hysteresis results showed an excellent square-shaped loop with results (P_r = 4 µC/cm²; E_c = 90 kV/cm) in good agreement with the earlier reports. The films also exhibited a dielectric constant of 190 and a dissipation factor of 0.02, which showed dispersion at low frequencies. The frequency dispersion was found to obey Jonscher's universal power law relation, and was attributed to the ionic charge hopping process according to earlier reports. The dc transport studies indicated an ohmic behavior in the low voltage region, while higher voltages induced a bulk space charge and resulted in non-linear current-voltage dependence.