Hardening of the ferroelectric soft mode in SrTiO3 thin films

We have studied the origin of soft-mode hardening in SrTiO3 thin films using broadband terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. We measured the dielectric dispersions in the terahertz region of as-deposited, O2 annealed, and high-temperature annealed SrTiO3 thin films deposited on MgO and La0.3Sr0.7Al0.65Ta0.35O3 substrates. The results show that the ferroelectric soft mode softens dramatically by the high-temperature annealing. We also measure x-ray diffractions and atomic force microscope images and conclude that the hardening of the ferroelectric soft mode in the thin films is determined by the grain size of each crystalline domain which is enlarged by the high-temperature annealing due to remelting.