Structural and optical properties of thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition

Ba(Zn1/3Ta2/3)O3, (BZT), is a high-k and low loss dielectric resonator material which finds applications in the area of microwave communication and related areas. While there are reports on its bulk properties, there is hardly any report on its thin films. We report here preparation of thin films of BZT deposited on to borosilicate and quartz substrates using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique under different oxygen mixing percentage (OMP) and preliminary studies on their structural and optical properties. The EDAX spectra show that the deposited films exhibit the composition of the target. As-deposited films, whether on a glass or quartz substrate, were found to be amorphous. The refractive index and energy bandgap of the films were found to be around 1.5 in the dispersion free region (500–1500 nm) and 5.2–5.5 eV, respectively. The Dynamic Force Microscopy (DFM) study of the BZT films exhibited columnar growth and films deposited at higher OMPs showed the smaller grain size.