Ferroelectric and photoluminescence properties of (Ca, Eu)Bi2Ta2O9 thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Thin films of CaBi2Ta2O9 (CBT) and Eu3+ doped CaBi2Ta2O9 (CEBT) were deposited on platinum-coated silicon substrates via the pulsed laser deposition technique. The microstructural, leakage current, ferroelectric behavior and photoluminescence properties of CBT/CEBT films were systematically studied. The CBT/CEBT films form single phase with a polycrystalline perovskite structure is confirmed by X-ray diffraction, and the CEBT films exhibit better crystallinity when doped with a number of Eu3+ ions. Meantime, the ferroelectric hysteresis loops show that enhanced ferroelectric property with a remnant polarization 2P(r) = 8 mu C/cm(2) are obtained from CEBT film when x = 0.15. Leakage current density curves show that the Eu3+ doping could lead to the increase of leakage current of CBT film. Furthermore, under the excitation of 394 nm and 464 nm light, the thin films exhibit yellow and red emission peaks centered at 592 nm and 613 nm, which attributes to the f-f electronic transition of D-5(0) -> F-7(1) and D-5(0) -> F-7(2) of Eu3+ ions. This study suggests that Eu3+ doped CaBi2Ta2O9 films have a potential application in the new multifunctional photoluminescence ferroelectric thin-film devices.