Epitaxial growth of BaTiO3 thin films by plasma-enhanced metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

High-quality BaTiO3 thin films have been epitaxially grown on (001) LaAlO3 and (001) NdGaO3 substrates by plasma-enhanced metalorganic chemical vapor deposition at a substrate temperature of 680 °C. X-ray diffraction θ–2θ, ω, and φ scan results all indicate that single-crystalline BaTiO3 thin films were epitaxially grown on the substrates with 〈100〉 orientation perpendicular to the substrates. The high degree of epitaxial crystallinity is further confirmed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry which gives a minimum yield of 7.5% and 11% for films deposited on LaAlO3 and NdGaO3, respectively. Cross-section high-resolution electron microscopy images also showed that the layer epitaxy of BaTiO3 was characterized by an atomically abrupt film/substrate interface. Scanning electron micrographs showed that these films had very smooth surface morphologies.