Correlation between growth dynamics and dielectric properties of epitaxial BaTiO₃ films

Abstract

We report on the effect of the substrate temperature on the growth dynamics and dielectric\nproperties of BaTiO3 epitaxial films on Nb:SrTiO3 (001) substrates. By real-time reflection high\nenergy electron diffraction analysis, we quantitatively estimated the adatoms surface diffusivity as\na function of temperature. The increase of the substrate temperature promotes surface diffusion,\nwhich reflects in the improvement of BaTiO3 ferroelectric properties up to 680 C. Above this\ntemperature, Ba re-evaporation occurs, leading to a rapid deterioration of the dielectric and\nferroelectric properties. This work shed light on thermally activated physical mechanisms which\ndetermine the ferroelectric properties of BaTiO3 films.