Spin-coated ferroelectric SrBi2Nb2O9 thin films

The electrical and microstructural properties of pure strontium bismuth niobate (SBN) prepared by spin coating have been examined. Randomly ordered films have larger dielectric constants and remanent polarization values (maximum of $P_r\text{=12.5\hspace{0.17em}}{\mathrm{\mu C/cm}}^{\mathrm{2}}$ ) than do $c$ -axis oriented films. The heretofore unexplained dependences of $P_r$ upon Sr content in SBN and SBT is shown to be entirely due to the sensitivity of grain orientation to Sr content in SBN. Vertical shifts ($P$ axis) in the hysteresis curves are eliminated via ozone anneals.