Heteroepitaxial growth of PMN-PT thin films on SrTiO3 buffered III-V semiconductor GaAs by pulsed laser deposition

•Relaxor ferroelectric PMN-PT films were epitaxially grown on SrTiO3 buffered GaAs substrates.•XRD patterns confirm that the PMN-PT films are epitaxial grown on GaAs substrates.•Ferroelectric hysteresis loops were observed in PMN-PT films on GaAs. Relaxor ferroelectric Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) thin films were epitaxially grown on (001)-oriented SrTiO3 buffered III-V semiconductor GaAs substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Detailed microstructural investigations of the films were carried out using X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Local piezoresponse force microscopy hysteresis loops confirm the ferroelectric nature of the PMN-PT thin films on GaAs. The results have demonstrated the practicality of integrating epitaxial PMN-PT films on semiconductor GaAs, which may pave the way to develop III-V semiconductor based opto-mechanical devices.