Characterization of highly-oriented ferroelectric Pb_xBa_(1-x)TiO_3

Abstract

Pb_xBa_(1-x)TiO_3 (0.2 ≾ x ≾ 1) thin films were deposited on single-crystal MgO as well as amorphous Si_3N_4/Si substrates using biaxially textured MgO buffer templates, grown by ion beam-assisted deposition (IBAD). The ferroelectric films were stoichiometric and highly oriented, with only (001) and (100) orientations evident in x-ray diffraction (XRD) scans. Films on biaxially textured templates had smaller grains (60 nm average) than those deposited on single-crystal MgO (300 nm average). Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) has been used to study the microtexture on both types of substrates and the results were consistent with x-ray pole figures and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs that indicated the presence of 90° domain boundaries, twins, in films deposited on single-crystal MgO substrates. In contrast, films on biaxially textured substrates consisted of small single-domain grains that were either c or a oriented. The surface-sensitive EBSD technique was used to measure the tetragonal tilt angle as well as in-plane and out-of-plane texture. High-temperature x-ray diffraction (HTXRD) of films with 90° domain walls indicated large changes, as much as 60%, in the c and a domain fractions with temperature, while such changes were not observed for Pb_xBa_(1-x)TiO_3 (PBT) films on biaxially textured MgO/Si_3N_4/Si substrates, which lacked 90° domain boundaries.