Abstract
Ceramic thin films have been deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering method, using a mixture of 1 mol (Ba0.3Sr0.7)(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 and 1 mol ZnO as target. The effects of oxygen partial pressures on crystallization and morphologies of thin films have been investigated in detail by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and atomic force microscope. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis was carried out to identify the composition and chemical state near the films’ surface. It is observed that the diffraction intensity of (001) peak increases dramatically when a small amount of oxygen is added to Ar atmosphere. The cross-sectional SEM images verify that the growth rate decreases sharply due to existence of oxygen, because the thickness decreases from 3.10 μm (pure Ar) to 1.38 μm (O2/Ar ratio of 0.2:1). The morphologies indicate that the thin films are crackfree with perfect crystallization and all the particles are uniform in size when the O2/Ar flow ratios are 0.2:1 and 0.4:1. The ceramics thin films grown at O2/Ar flow ratio of 0.2:1 does not contain adsorbed oxygen, which is confirmed by XPS.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51042001). The authors thank Professor Guangda Hu, from Jinan University, P.R.China, for his help in the AFM measurements. The authors are also grateful to Professor Chengshan Xue for his help in discussion our results.
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Shi, F., Ji, F. Effects of oxygen partial pressures on microstructures and compositions of BaO-SrO-ZnO-Nb2O5 thin films by RF-sputtering method. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 22, 1483–1489 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-011-0334-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-011-0334-9