X-ray diffraction and surface acoustic wave analysis of BST/Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si thin films

High dielectric constant and electrostriction property of (Ba, Sr)Ti03 (BST) thin films result in an increasing interest for dielectric devices and microwave acoustic resonator. Barium strontium titanate (Ba0.645Sr0.355TiO3) films of about 300 nm thickness are grown on Pt(111)/TiO2/SiO2/Si(001) substrates by rf magnetron sputtering deposition techniques. X-ray diffraction is applied for the microstructural characterization. The BST films exhibit a cubic perovskite structure with a dense and smooth surface. A laser acoustic waves (LA-waves) technique is used to generate surface acoustic waves (SAW) propagating in the BST films. Young’s modulus E and the Poisson ratio ν of TiO2, Pt and BST films in different propagation directions are derived from the measured dispersion curves. Estimation of BST elastics constants are served in SAW studies. Impact of stratification process on SAW, propagating along [100] and [110] directions of silicon substrate, has been interpreted on the basis of ordinary differential equation (ODE) and stiffness matrix method (SMM). A good agreement is observed between experimental and calculated dispersion curves. The performed calculations are strongly related to the implemented crystallographic data of each layer. Dispersion curves are found to be sensitive to the SAW propagation direction and the stratification process for the explored frequency ranges 50-250 MHz, even though it corresponds to a wave length clearly higher than the whole films thickness.