Structure and optical properties of STO/Si and BFO-PFN/STO/Si heterostructures obtained by RF-cathode sputtering.

The paper provides information on the growth of SrTiO₃/Si (001) (STO/Si) and 0.5BiFeO₃–0.5PbFe_0.5Nb_0.5O₃/SrTiO₃/Si (001) (BFO-PFN/STO/Si) composite heterostructures. BFO–PFN/STO/Si composite thin films were deposited on Si substrate by RF-cathode sputtering using STO as buffer layer for textured growth. The use of STO enhanced the orientation for the perovskite phase growth of the BFO–PFN films, which was confirmed by XRD. It was shown that the BFO–PFN layer in the BFO–PFN/STO/Si heterostructures suffered a strain and thus their physical properties were modified. The optical properties of the STO/Si pseudo-substrate were studied in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]