Growth and characterization of epitaxial SrBi2Ta2O9 films on (110) SrTiO3 substrates

SrBi2Ta2O9 (SBT) is an attractive material for nonvolatile ferroelectric memory applications. In this paper we report on the deposition of highly epitaxial and smooth SrBi2Ta2O9 films on (110) SrTiO3substrates. The films were grown by pulsed laser deposition at temperatures ranging from 600 to 800°C and at various laser fluences from a Bi-excess SBT target. The background oxygen pressure was maintained at 28 Pa during the film deposition. Structural characterization of the films was performed by x-ray diffraction. Atomic force microscopy was used to investigate morphology and growth of the films. The films grew with preferred (115) or (116) orientation. The roughness was of the order of unit cell height. The films display a growth pattern resulting in corrugated film morphology.