Ferroelectric domains in epitaxial PbTiO3 and BaTiO3 thin films on MgO(100)

• Published in: Thin solid films Vol. 312; no. 1-2; pp. 249 - 253
• Main Authors: Kim, Sangsub, Park, Yongbum, Kang, Youngmin, Park, Woojin, Baik, Sunggi, Gruverman, Alexei L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 14.01.1998; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Dielectric, piezoelectric, ferroelectric and antiferroelectric materials; Dielectrics, piezoelectrics, and ferroelectrics and their properties; Domain structure; hysteresis; Exact sciences and technology; Ferroelectric domain; Ferroelectric thin films; Ferroelectricity and antiferroelectricity; Laser ablation; Niobates, titanates, tantalates, pzt ceramics, etc; Physics; Sputtering; Laser ablation; Sputtering; Ferroelectric domain; Ferroelectric thin films; Atomic force microscopy; Cubic lattices; Inorganic compounds; Epitaxial layers; Tetragonal lattices; Phase transformations; Ternary compounds; Lead titanates; Transition element compounds; Barium titanates; XRD; Experimental study; Thin films; Compressive stress; Ferroelectric materials; Domain structure; TEM; Thermal stresses
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/S0040-6090(97)00270-8

Epitaxial PbTiO3 and BaTiO3 thin films were prepared on MgO(100) by laser ablation and RF magnetron sputter deposition, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to investigate the ferroelectric domains in the grown films. In the PbTiO3 film, significant portions of a-domains were distributed in c-domains, which causes abundant 90° domain population. On the other hand, the BaTiO3 film was mainly single c-domains without any meaningful domain structure. We attribute the difference in domain population of the two reasons. One is the smaller phase transformation strain which comes from smaller tetragonality of BaTiO3, and the other is the larger compressive stress due to thermal mismatch which comes from lower Tc of BaTiO3 than those of PbTiO3.