Growth and characterization of epitaxial Ba2Bi4Ti5O18 films deposited by pulsed laser ablation

Optimal conditions for the growth of eptiaxial quality layers of ferroelectric Ba2Bi4Ti5O18 films, by pulsed laser ablation have been determined. The ferroelectric layer was deposited on a stack of buffer layers comprising LaNiO3/CeO2/YSZ. All the layers in the buffer stack were deposited by excimer laser ablation as well. Films on large area Si(100) wafers, 3 inches in diameter showed good thickness and compositional uniformity. The quality of epitaxy of the oriented films was studied with the help of X-ray diffraction, scanning force microscopy (SFM) and cross-section transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) techniques. Ferroelectric hysteresis loops were recorded with values of Ps and Pr of 1.3 μC/cm2 and 0.6 μC/cm2, respectively.