Structure and ferroelectricity of Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 thin films prepared by a modified sol-gel processing

Quality Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 (BST) thin films with a remnant polarization of abou t 3.5 mu C/cm(2), and a coercive field of about 53 kV/cm have been successf ully prepared by a sol-gel processing using a 0.05 mol/L precursor solution . X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscope investi gations show that the BST films exhibit a tetragonal structure (c/a = 1.009 ) and consist dominantly of large columnar grains of about 150 nm in diamet er. The observed good ferroelectricity and insulating property render the s ol-gel derived BST thin films promising for uncooled infrared detector and thermal imaging applications.