Microstructure and properties of ferroelectric Bi4Ti3O12 thin films

The film morphology and defect structure of ferroelectric bismuth titanate thin films are studied by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. As-grown and RTA-processed thin films have similar defect structures, consisting of stacking faults and complex intergrowth defect structures. The as-grown specimens prepared at low temperature had smaller particle size with higher density of these defects compared to RTA-processed samples. Detailed atomic structure models for the stacking faults and intergrowth defect structures are proposed and the computer-simulated images are compared with experiment.