Tuning the growth and strain relaxation of ferroelectric BaTiO3 thin films on SrRuO3 electrode: influence on electrical properties

This study is focused on the link between the structural and electric properties of BaTiO3 thin films grown on SrRuO3-buffered (001) SrTiO3 substrates, SrRuO3 acting as bottom electrode. The growth regime and film structure are here tuned through the growth pressure for pulsed laser deposition in the 1-200 mTorr range. The dielectric, ferroelectric and leakage current properties are systematically measured for the different strain states of the BaTiO3 thin films on SrRuO3. The results are discussed with the help of ab initio calculations on the effects of Ba-and Ti-vacancies on BaTiO3 lattice parameters. A sharp increase of the dielectric constant is evidenced in the high pressure region, where the tetragonality of the BaTiO3 is decreasing rapidly with growth pressure. We interpret this divergence of the dielectric function as the signature of the vicinity of the phase boundary between the out-of-plane and in-plane orientations of the tetragonal BTO films.