Synthesis of BaTiO3/SrTiO3 multilayer thin films using Solid-phase Epitaxy

Project Description

Project Overview:  Heterostructure thin films composed of alternating layers of BaTiO3 (BTO) and SrTiO3 (STO) represent an exciting new direction in materials design for applications in radio-frequency electronics and high-dielectric-constant capacitors.  This project will use solid phase epitaxy to crystallize an amorphous BTO/STO multilayer thin film that is deposited on a Si/SiO2 substrate using RF sputtering.  Following the deposition of the amorphous layers, the team will thermally anneal the multilayer film to promote an amorphous to crystalline transformation into an epitaxially matched heterostructure.  The roughness of the BTO/STO film surface and interfaces will be characterized using x-ray reflectivity (XRD and XRR) following the crystallization.  The crystallographic orientation of multilayer BTO/STO thin film will be determined using thin film x-ray diffraction.

Clients:  Dr. Paul Evans, Sam Marks, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Student Team: Jason Waldvogel, Turner Williams, Deshan Cai