Growth and study of SrBi2 (Ta, Nb)2 O9 thin films by pulsed excimer laser ablation

Thin films of SrBi2(Ta,Nb)2O9 (SBTN) were grown using pulsed-laser ablation and were ex situ crystallized. Ferroelectric properties were achieved by low temperature deposition. A polycrystalline structure was achieved, with a Ta- to Nb-ratio nearly 1:1. The smaller thickness of the film allowed the switching voltage to be low enough (1.5 V), without affecting the insulating nature of the films. The hysteresis results showed an excellent square shaped loop with a remnant polarization (Pr) of 7.6 μC/cm2 and a coercive field (Ec) of 75 kV/cm. This ferroelectric material composition is having a very high Curie temperature with higher stability and can be used in non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) devices.