Effects of very thin strain layers on dielectric properties of epitaxial Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 films

We have epitaxially grown Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 (BST-0.4) thin films on MgO(001) substrates. By inserting a very thin Ba1−xSrxTiO3 (x=0.1–0.7) interlayer between the MgO substrate and the main layer of BST-0.4, we are able to manipulate the degree of the stress in BST-0.4 films. We have controlled the stress states, i.e., the lattice distortion ratio (D=in-plane lattice constant/out-of-plane lattice constant) of the BST-0.4 films by varying the chemical composition of the interlayers. We have found that small variations of D value can result in significantly large changes of dielectric properties. A BST-0.4 film under small tensile stress, which has a D value of 1.0023, shows the largest dielectric permittivity and tunability.

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