Fabrication of (Ba,Sr)TiO₃ Thin Films by Hydrothermal Crystallization of Sol-Gel Precursor

Barium strontium titanate (BST) ferroelectric thin films have been successfully prepared on the single crystal silicon substrates using hydrothermal crystallization of sol-gel precursor, which combined the conventional sol-gel process and the hydrothermal method. The precursor film was deposited by the dip-coating method. The multiplayer BST gel films were hydrothermally treated in a Teflon vessel at low temperature of 160-180 °C for 1-3.5 h. The influences of the reaction conditions on the structure and crystallizing degree of BST thin films were discussed. We find that the temperature of as-dried gel films and post hydrothermal treatment are the critical parameters determining the quality of formation of BST thin films. Under optimized conditions, we can obtain well-developed perovskite BST films with smooth and pinhole-free surfaces. These results reveal that this technique is a promising low temperature process for the fabricating of thin films.