Electrical transport properties and modelling of electrostrictive resonance phenomena in Ba 2/3 Sr 1/3 TiO 3 thin films

Abstract : We present the conduction mechanisms of Ba 2/3 Sr 1/3 TiO 3 thin films integrated in metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors and the modelling of the frequency-dependent electrostrictive resonances (in the 100 MHz-10 GHz domain) induced in the devices upon applying different voltage biases. Au/BST/Ir MIM structures on MgO substrates have been fabricated and, depending on their specific polarization, we highlighted different conduction mechanisms in the devices. Depending on the dc bias polarity, the conduction current across the material shows a space-charge-limited-current behavior under negative polarization, while under positive bias the conduction obeys an electrode-limited Schottky-type law at the Au/ BST interface. The application of an electric field on the device induces the onset of acoustic resonances related to electrostrictive phenomena in the ferroelectric material. We modeled these acoustic 2 resonances over a wide frequency range, by using a modified Lakin model which takes into account the dispersions of acoustic properties near the lower electrode/ thin film interface.