Growth of Highly (100)-Oriented SrTiO3 Thin Films on Si(111) Substrates Without Buffer Layer

The SrTiO3 (STO) thin films were directly grown on Si(111) substrates without buffer layer by an electron-cyclotron-resonance ion beam sputter deposition. The growth temperature was varied from 700 degrees C to 850 degrees C, while other parameters were kept unchanged. X-ray structural analysis demonstrates that the growth temperature has a strong influence in tuning degree of (100) orientation. The STO film grown at 800 degrees C is found to be the highest degree of (100) orientation (98%) and a strong (100) fiber texture. For the surface morphology, the development of plate-shaped grains reveals a good correlation with the change in the degree of (100) orientation. Moreover, the leakage current-voltage characteristics of the Au/STO/Si(111) metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitors are investigated and discussed in considerable detail.