An Elegant Post-Growth Process Science Protocol To Improve The Material Properties Of Complex Oxide Thin Films For Tunable Device Applications

We report on an innovative isothermal post-growth/crystallization process that utilizes ultraviolet (UV)-photon irradiation. We fabricated Ba1-xSrxTiO3 (BST) thin films using metalorganic solution deposition (MOSD) and UV-photon irradiation isothermal treatment via two protocols: in situ crystallized UV-photon irradiated films, and post-crystallization UV-photon irradiated films. Isothermal UV-photon irradiation treatment improves the structural quality of the BST films, and the irradiated films possessed lattice parameters close to the bulk values, which is evidence for a reduction in oxygen vacancies. MOSD fabricated BST films crystallized via conventionally furnace annealing and subsequently exposed to UV-photon irradiation possessed improved structural, dielectric, and electrical quality.