Ferroelectric and dielectric properties of Bi 4-xNd xTi 3O 12 thin films prepared by sol-gel method

Bi 4-xNd xTi 3O 12 (BNT-x, x = 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.0) thin films were prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO 2/Si substrates by a sol-gel method. The microstructure, ferroelectric and dielectric properties of BNT-x thin films were investigated. The single-phase BNT-x thin films were obtained. With increasing Nd content, the preferred orientation changed from random to (117) and surface morphologies changed from the mixture of rod- and plate-like grains to rod-like grains. TheNd substitution improved the ferroelectric and dielectric properties of BTO films. BNT-x films showed better electrical properties at x = 0.50-1.0.BNT-0.75 film exhibited the best electrical properties with remanent polarization (2P r) of 26.6 μC/cm 2, dielectric constant (ε r) of 366 (at 1 MHz), dielectric loss (tanδ) of 0.034 (at 1 MHz), leakage current density (J) of ±3.0 9 10 -6 A/cm 2 (at ± 5 V) and fatiguefree characteristics. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011.