J. Am. Ceram. Soc.
, 90 [10] 3248–3254 (2007)
Journal
Orientation Control in Sol–Gel-Derived BiScO3–PbTiO3 Thin Films
State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
BiScO3–PbTiO3 (BSPT) thin films were fabricated via a sol–gel
method on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si(111) substrates. The effects of
different factors on the orientation of the sol–gel-derived BSPT
thin films were investigated. The results showed that a higher
lead excess concentration, longer drying time, higher pyrolysis
temperature, longer pyrolysis time, higher crystallization tem-
perature, and longer crystallization time could enhance the (100)
orientation of the BSPT thin films. Based on the experimental
results, a mechanism for the orientation evolution in the sol–gel-
derived BSPT thin films was proposed. The production of the
(100) orientation was attributed to the (100)-oriented PbO
nanocrystals forming during the pyrolysis process due to the
lattice match.
I. Introduction
F ERROELECTRIC thin films with a perovskite structure, such as
lead zirconate titanate (PZT), have attracted considerable
attention as promising materials for applications in nonvolatile
ferroelectric random access memories (FRAM) and micro-
electromechanical systems (MEMS) due to their high ferroelec-
tric and piezoelectric activities near the morphotropic phase
boundary (MPB).1–3 A variety of techniques have been used to
fabricate the ferroelectric thin films, among which the sol–gel
method has received particular interest because of its advantages
of chemical homogeneity, facility of stoichiometry control, low
cost, and easy integrability into semiconductor devices. In highly
oriented or textured ferroelectric thin films, due to the enhance-
ment of anisotropy, some improved properties are exhibited
compared with those thin films without preferential orientation.
For example, in tetragonal PZT, a higher piezoelectric d33 can be
obtained in (001)-oriented thin films, while a larger dielectric
constant can be obtained in (100)-oriented thin films. Thus,
many approaches have been used to fabricate oriented ferro-
electric thin films via the sol–gel method, such as introducing a
seeding layer4–6 or a buffer layer,7–10 using single-crystal sub-
strates11–13 and applying external stress.14,15 Moreover, some
studies have also shown that the preferential orientation of Pb-
based perovskite films can be obtained on a common platinized
silicon substrate Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si. Chen and colleagues16,17
reported the temperature–time texture (TTT) evolution of sol–
gel-derived PZT thin films on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si, in which both
(100) and (111) orientations have been obtained. The develop-
ment of (111) orientation was considered to arise from lead-rich
intermediate phases PtxPb due to a lattice match, while (100)
orientation was correlated with the formation of a lead oxide
(100) layer, which crystallized at a low temperature before the
perovskite PZT. The microstructure evolutions of the PZT thin
films with different orientations were reported by Reaney18,19
S. Trolier-McKinstry—contributing editor
Manuscript No. 22277. Received September 21, 2006; approved June 2, 2007.
Supported by National 973 Project of China (No. 2002CB613301) and National Natural
and Science Foundation of China (No. 50472006).
*Member, American Ceramic Society.
w
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: wxh@tsinghua.edu.cn
3248
DOI: 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2007.01888.x
r 2007 The American Ceramic Society
Hai Wen, Xiaohui Wang,*,w and Longtu Li
and Wu,20 which were consistent with Chen’s results. However,
most of the current researches are focused on PZT thin films.
Few researches have been reported on other lead-based perovs-
kite ferroelectric thin films.
(1
x)BiScO3–xPbTiO3 (BSPT) is a newly developed high-
temperature piezoelectric solid solution system exhibiting a
higher Curie temperature (TcB4501C) and comparable proper-
ties at the MPB (x 5 0.64) with respect to PZT,21–23 which has
been considered as a potential candidate for the high-tempera-
ture microdevices required in automotive, aerospace, and relat-
ed industries. The BSPT thin films were first fabricated by
Trolier-Mckinstry24,25 on LaAlO3 single-crystal substrates
through pulsed laser deposition. In our previous study,26,27 the
BSPT thin films were prepared on platinized silicon substrates
via a sol–gel method. In this study, the effects of different factors
on the orientation of the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films have
been investigated. The growth mechanism of the film orientation
has been discussed as well.
II. Experimental Procedure
Lead acetate [Pb(COOCH3)2], tetrabutyl titanate [Ti(OC4H9)4],
scandium acetate [Sc(COOCH3)3], and bismuth nitrate
[Bi(NO)3] (Hongxing Chemical Ltd., Beijing, China) were cho-
sen as the raw materials, with glacial acetic acid, isopropyl al-
cohol, and distilled water as the solvents. The preparation
details of the BSPT precursor solutions have been described
elsewhere.26 Three solutions with different lead excess were pre-
pared, the lead excess of which were 0% (hereinafter named
SG-a), 10% (hereinafter named SG-b), and 18% (hereinafter
named SG-c), respectively. The resultant solutions, with the
composition of 0.34BiScO3–0.66PbTiO3 and a concentration of
0.25M determined by inductive coupled plasma emission spect-
rometry, were aged for 10 days before deposition. The thin films
were deposited onto Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si(111) substrates by spin
coating at 5000 rpm for 30 s, dried, and pyrolyzed in an ambient
atmosphere. The process was repeated five times to achieve a
desired thickness (B200 nm). The amorphous films were crys-
tallized using a rapid thermal processing (RTP) furnace in an
ambient atmosphere. In order to investigate the effects of dif-
ferent factors on the orientation of the BSPT thin films, several
groups of experiments were carried out. The details of these
experiments were listed in Table I.
The microstructures of the BSPT thin films were observed
using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM,
LEO-1530, LEO, Oberkochen, Germany) and atomic force mi-
croscopy (AFM, SPI4000&SPA300HV, Seiko, Tokyo, Japan).
The phase structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction
(XRD, D/max-RB, Rigaku, Tokyo, Japan) with CuKa radia-
tion. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM, Tecnai G2 F20,
FEI, Hillsboro, OR) was used to conduct high-resolution trans-
mission electron microscopy (HRTEM) observation and ener-
gy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. Fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy (FTIR, Spectrum GX, Perkin-Elmer,
Waltham, MA) was used to identify the residual organic spe-
cies in the thin films, which was recorded by means of a reflec-
tion technique.
October 2007 Orientation Control in Sol–Gel-Derived BSPT Thin Films 3249

Table I. Experimental Details of the BiScO3–PbTiO3 Thin Films Prepared Via the Sol–Gel Method
Group Precursor Drying temperature Drying time Pyrolysis temperature Pyrolysis time Crystallization temperature Crystallization time
number solution (1C) (min) (1C) (s) (1C) (s)

I SG-b 80 60 350–500 200 700 500

II SG-b 80 60 450 60–300 700 500
III SG-b 80 60 450 300 550–800 300
IV SG-b 80 60 450 300 700 120–600
V SG-a–c 80 60 450 300 700 300
VI SG-c 80 2–60 450 300 650 300

III. Results and Discussion
(1) Microstructures and Phase Structures
Typical SEM and AFM micrographs for the microstructure of
the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films are shown in Fig. 1. As the
figures show, the film exhibits a dense and uniform microstruc-
ture without any cracks. The grain size of the film is o50 nm.
The XRD patterns, shown in the figures, reveal that all the thin
films are single-phase perovskite without any pyrochlore peaks
being observed. Moreover, the strongest peaks are either (100)
peaks or (110) peaks for all the samples, indicating that the sol–
gel-derived BSPT thin films are either (100) oriented or ran-
domly oriented. The intensities of the (111) peaks are very low
or even disappeared, for all the samples, indicating that the (111)
orientation has been strongly suppressed.
(2) Effects of Different Factors on the Orientation
To evaluate the (100) orientation degree of the sol–gel-derived
BSPT thin films, the Lotgering factor f is used, described as
follows:
f ¼ ðp
p0 Þ=ð1
p0 Þ
P
Iðl00Þ
p¼P (2)
IðhklÞ
where I is the maximum intensity of each peak and p0 5 p for the
randomly oriented BSPT powder.28 A larger Lotgering factor f
indicates a higher (100) orientation. In this study, the p0 value
used in calculating the Lotgering factor f is measured from a
self-made powder sample by the sol–gel method reported in our
previous study.29
Figure 2 presents the Lotgering factor as a function of pyroly-
sis temperature for the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films dried at
801C for 60 min, pyrolyzed at different temperatures for 200 s,
and crystallized at 7001C for 500 s using the precursor solution
SG-b. As the figure shows, when the pyrolysis temperature
increases from 3501 to 4001C, the Lotgering factor f does not
change much. However, when it comes to 4501C, the Lotgering
factor f exhibits a large increase from 0.23 to 0.41 and then a
slight increase to 0.43 for 5001C. This indicates that a higher
pyrolysis temperature may lead to a higher (100) orientation,
especially when the pyrolysis temperature increases from 4001 to
4501C. The Lotgering factor as a function of pyrolysis time for
the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films dried at 801C for 60 min,
pyrolyzed at 4501C for different times and crystallized at 7001C
(1) for 500 s using the precursor solution SG-b is displayed in Fig. 3.
As shown in the figure, f increases with an increase in pyrolysis
time from 0.29 for 60 s to 0.66 for 300 s, except a small decrease
at 120 s, which is considered an experimental error.
Secondly, the effect of the crystallization process on the
orientation of sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films is investigated.
Figure 4 shows Lotgering factor as a function of crystallization
temperature for the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films dried at
801C for 60 min, pyrolyzed at 4501C for 300 s, and crystallized
at different temperatures for 300 s using the precursor solution
SG-b. As the figure reveals, the Lotgering factor f increases with
increasing crystallization temperature, from 0.47 for 5501C to

Fig. 1. Typical (a) cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy and (b)

atomic force microscopy micrographs for the microstructure of a sol– Fig. 2. Lotgering factor as a function of pyrolysis temperature for sam-
gel-derived BiScO3–PbTiO3thin film. ple group I. The inset shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of the films.
3250 Journal of the American Ceramic Society—Wen et al.
Fig. 3. Lotgering factor as a function of pyrolysis time for the sample
group II. The inset shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of the films.
0.67 for 8001C, indicating that a higher (100) orientation degree
can be obtained at a higher crystallization temperature. Figure 5
shows the Lotgering factor as a function of crystallization time
for the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films dried at 801C for 60 min,
pyrolyzed at 4501C for 300 s, and crystallized at 7001C for
different times using the precursor solution SG-b. Examination
of the figure indicates that f increases with the crystallization
time, from 0.56 for 120 s to 0.68 for 600 s. This means that a
longer crystallization process may enhance the (100) orientation.
However, it is noticeable that the Lotgering factor f does not
change much when the crystallization time is o300 s.
Thirdly, the effect of lead excess concentration on the orien-
tation of the BSPT thin films was investigated. Figure 6 shows
Lotgering factor f as a function of lead excess concentration for
the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films dried at 801C for 60 min,
pyrolyzed at 4501C for 300 s, and crystallized at 7001C for 300 s,
using the precursor solution SG-a (0%), SG-b (10%), and SG-c
(18%). As the figure shows, f increases with increasing lead
excess concentration, from 0.15 for no lead excess to 0.81 for
18% lead excess, which means that lead may play an important
role in the formation of BSPT (100) orientation.
Figure 7 presents Lotgering factor as a function of drying
time for the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films dried at 801C for
different times, pyrolyzed at 4501C for 300 s, and crystallized at
6501C for 300 s using the precursor solution SG-c. Examination
of the figure indicates that f increases with increasing drying
time, from 0.3 for 2 min to 0.74 for 60 min. Moreover, f exhibits
Fig. 4. Lotgering factor as a function of crystallization temperature for
the sample group III. The inset shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of
the films.
Vol. 90, No. 10
Fig. 5. Lotgering factor as a function of crystallization time for the
sample group IV. The inset shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of the
films.
a large rapid increase before the drying time is less than 40 min,
but a slow increase after 40 min.
(3) Detailed Study on the Microstructure Evolution:
HRTEM and FTIR
To gain a further understanding on the orientation growth in the
sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films, we investigate the microstruc-
ture evolution of the samples by HRTEM and FTIR in this
section.
In the previous discussion, it is observed that the Lotgering
factor f exhibits a large increase as the pyrolysis temperature
increases from 4001 to 4501C (see Fig. 2), which indicates some
changes occurring in the film at 4501C that may enhance the
(100) orientation. Figure 8 presents the HRTEM micrographs
for plane view of the amorphous thin films dried at 801C for
60 min, pyrolyzed at (a) 4001C and (b) 4501C for 300 s, respec-
tively, without crystallization. As shown in Fig. 8(a), the film is
completely amorphous with some special dark dots, which in-
dicates that these dark regions have a higher average atomic
number than the surrounding areas. However, for the sample
pyrolyzed at 4501C, as shown in Fig. 8(b), there are some crys-
tallized regions (marked by the arrows in the figure) appearing
in the amorphous film. It has been reported that PbO seeds
precipitate from the amorphous phase when pyrolyzed at 4501C
in PZT thin films.30 And these PbO seeds have a good lattice
match with PZT (100) orientation (a 5 0.3974 nm for the oxygen
sublattice in lead oxide and c 5 0.4146 for PZT perovskite),
Fig. 6. Lotgering factor as a function of lead excess concentration for
the sample group V.
October 2007 Orientation Control in Sol–Gel-Derived BSPT Thin Films
Fig. 7. Lotgering factor as a function of drying time for the sample
group VI.
which may enhance the (100) orientation.31 Thus, we suppose
that these crystallized regions in Fig. 8(b) may be PbO nano-
crystals, while the dark regions in Fig. 8(a) are probably some
kind of transition status before the PbO nanocrystals come into
existence. Because BSPT also has a lattice constant similar to
PbO (c 5 0.4075 nm for BSPT perovskite), these PbO nano-
crystals would enhance the (100) orientation of BSPT thin
films due to lattice match as well. However, as shown in
Fig. 8(b), these PbO nanocrystals are all misoriented, which
obviously cannot lead to (100)-oriented BSPT thin films and
will not explain the large increase of Lotgering factor f at
4501C. Hence, we continued to study the cross-sectional
HRTEM micrograph of the sample pyrolyzed at 4501C, as
shown in Fig. 9(a). In the figure, a well-oriented nanocrystal
with the scale of several 10 nm can be observed at the film–
substrate interface. The EDS analysis on the nanocrystal, as
shown in Fig. 9(b), reveals that the nanocrystal mainly con-
sists of merely two elements, Pb and O, which provides strong
support to our previous supposition that the nanocrystals
may be PbO. Moreover, the EDS analysis on the uncrystal-
lized region away from the interface, as presented in Fig. 9(c),
shows that the region consists of all the five elements: Pb, Ti,
Bi, Sc, and O. Nevertheless, due to the very small scale, it is
very hard to operate select area electron diffraction on the
PbO nanocrystal. These results suggest that PbO nanocrystals
Fig. 8. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy micrographs for the plan view of the amorphous thin films dried at 801C for 60 min,
pyrolyzed at (a) 4001C and (b) 4501C for 300 s without crystallization.
3251
may form at both the interface and the bulk of the film, when
the pyrolysis temperature increases to 4501C. These PbO
nanocrystals formed at the interface are oriented, which can
lead to a (100)-oriented BSPT thin film due to lattice match,
while those PbO nanocrystals formed in the bulk of the film
are misoriented, which cannot lead to an oriented BSPT thin
film. This may explain the large increase of Lotgering factor f
at 4501C in Fig. 2. When the pyrolysis time is prolonged, we
consider that there may be more PbO nanocrystals formed
from the amorphous phase at the interface, which would lead
to a stronger BSPT (100) orientation (seeing Fig. 3).
It could also be observed that the drying time affects the ori-
entation of the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films, as shown in
Fig. 7. To investigate the reason for this phenomenon, the cross-
sectional HRTEM micrograph of the amorphous BSPT thin
film dried at 801C for 2 min and pyrolyzed at 4501C for 300 s is
studied, as displayed in Fig. 10. Different from the sample dried
for 60 min, in this film most PbO nanocrystals that are misori-
ented appear in the bulk of the film (marked by white arrows in
the figure), with a few formed at the film–substrate interface. It
is generally accepted that during the drying process, the solvents’
volatilization and aging of the film, such as condensation reac-
tions, co-occur in the as-coated thin films. Thus, the drying time
actually defines the residual organic parts in the amorphous thin
films. Fe32 reported that a prior drying step before the pyrolysis
might reduce the OH band concentration in the amorphous
PZT thin films, while the existence of the OH band could impart
excess thermodynamic phase energy to the film and then in-
crease the driving force for crystallization. In this study, the
FTIR spectra of the amorphous BSPT thin films dried for dif-
ferent times are shown in Fig. 11. As the figure shows, no OH
band could be observed in both samples, while peaks of acetate
groups around 1500 cm
1 were found. Moreover, it is obvious
that the longer drying time may reduce the concentration of re-
sidual acetate groups in the amorphous films. Combining this
result with that in Fig. 10, we consider that the drying time may
affect the nucleation place of the PbO nanocrsytals. When the
drying time is short, the larger residual organic parts may
provide more sites for the crystallization of PbO nanocrystals
within the film bulk, which are misoriented, whereas a long
drying time will reduce the residual organic parts and more
PbO nanocrystals will form at the film–substrate interface,
which are oriented. Moreover, a longing drying time also re-
sults in a more rigid gel film, which may hinder the crystalliza-
tion of PbO within the film bulk as well. Because more oriented
PbO nanocrystals are formed, higher BSPT (100) orientations
are produced.
3252 Journal of the American Ceramic Society—Wen et al. Vol. 90, No. 10

Fig. 9. (a) High-resolution transmission electron microscopy micrograph for the cross-sectional view of the interface in the amorphous thin films dried
at 801C for 60 min and pyrolyzed at 4501C for 300 s without crystallization; (b) energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis on the crystallized region
in (a); (c) EDS analysis on the uncrystallized region away from the interface in (a).

(4) Mechanism for the Orientation Evolution
It is well known that the crystallization of sol–gel-derived thin
films occurs by a nucleation-growth process. From a thermo-
dynamic perspective, the driving force (the energy difference be-
tween the amorphous and crystalline states) plays a significant
role in determining the nucleation events that take place.33 From
the classic Volmer–Weber nucleation theory,34 the energy
barriers for homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, which
depend on the driving force, can be described by
16pg3
DGhomo ¼
3ðDGv Þ2
16pg3
DGhetero ¼ f ðyÞ
3ðDGv Þ2
barrier for the two nucleation events becomes larger (see Eqs. (3)
and (4)), which makes the heterogeneous nucleation more
important.
Based on the experimental results and discussion above, we
may propose a mechanism for the orientation evolution in sol–
gel-derived BSPT thin films. Firstly, the as-coated thin film is
dried at a low temperature (801–1001C). During this process,
solvents’ volatilization and aging of the film, such as condensa-
tion reactions, co-occur. The drying time may define the residual
organic parts in the as-dried thin film and gel film status. Then,
the film is pyrolyzed at an intermediate temperature. When the
(3) pyrolysis temperature is higher than 4501C, PbO nanocrystals
precipitate from the amorphous film. These PbO nanocrystals
may form within the bulk film, which are misoriented, or at the
film–substrate interface, which are (100) oriented. If the drying
(4)

where g is the interfacial energy, DGV is the driving force for

crystallization, and f(y) is a function related to the contact angle
y. For a hemispherical nucleus, the f(y) can be described as

f ðyÞ ¼ ð2
3 cos y þ cos3 yÞ=4 (5)

The homogeneous nucleation occurs within the bulk film,

which generally results in random orientation due to the equi-
axed grains forming in this nucleation process. The heteroge-
neous nucleation occurs at the film–substrate interface, which
usually leads to textured thin films. The difference in barrier
heights for the two nucleation events is therefore defined by the
term of interfacial energy, the driving force for crystallization,
and the contact angle with the substrate. Because f(y) is always
o1 (see Eq. (5)), the energy barrier for the heterogeneous nu-
cleation is lower than that for the homogeneous nucleation (see
Eqs. (3) and (4)), which means that the heterogeneous nucle-
ation is generally favored. However, these two kinds of nucle-
ation events always take place during the crystallization process.
The temperature dependence of the crystallization driving force
is presented in Fig. 12, which was originally proposed by Roy.35 Fig. 10. Cross-sectional high resolution transmission electron micros-
As shown in the figure, crystallization at a higher temperature copy micrograph of amorphous BiScO3–PbTiO3 thin films dried at 801C
results in a lower driving force. And the difference in the energy for 2 min and pyrolyzed at 4501C for 300 s.
October 2007 Orientation Control in Sol–Gel-Derived BSPT Thin Films
Fig. 11. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of amorphous
BiScO3–PbTiO3 films dried at 801C for 2 and 60 min.
time is long enough, there will be less residual organic parts and
a more rigid gel film as more PbO nanocrystals form at the in-
terface, which may act as seeds for the nucleation of BSPT (100)
orientation due to lattice match. Moreover, the amount of PbO
nanocrystals is affected by the excess lead concentration added
to the precursor solution and the pyrolysis time. Finally, the
amorphous thin film is crystallized at a high temperature. Dur-
ing this process, crystallization of the perovskite phase takes
place, which occurs by a nucleation-growth process. Two kinds
of nucleation events may take place. One is homogeneous
nucleation, which occurs within the bulk film. The other is
heterogeneous nucleation, which occurs at the film–substrate
interface. As PbO nanocrystals have precipitated from the amor-
phous phase during the pyrolysis process, both nucleations of
the BSPT perovskite phase may take place on these PbO nano-
crystals because of lattice match. The heterogeneous nucleation
of BSPT takes place on the oriented PbO nanocrystals at the
interface and results in a BSPT (100) orientation. Homogeneous
nucleation occurs on the misoriented PbO nanocrystals in the
film bulk and leads to random orientation. Usually, these two
nucleation events of the BSPT perovskite phase take place dur-
ing the crystallization process. The energy barrier heights of the
two perovskite phase nucleation events, described in Eqs. (3)
and (4), determine which one is more favored and important. At
a higher crystallization temperature, the difference in the energy
barrier for the two nucleation events becomes larger, which
Fig. 12. Schematic diagram of the free energies of a sol–gel-derived
amorphous film, the ideal supercooled liquid, and the crystalline per-
ovskited phase. DGv is the thermodynamic driving force for crystalliza-
tion. After Roy.35
3253
promotes the heterogeneous nucleation and results in a higher
BSPT (100) orientation. After the nucleation, the equiaxed
grains in the bulk film and the (100)-oriented grains at the in-
terface compete with each other in the grain growth. It is re-
ported that (100) of the perovskite structure has the lowest
surface energy.16,17 Thus, the (100)-oriented grains have more
advantages in growth and may consume the misoriented grains
in the bulk film. This would explain the larger Lotgering factor f
obtained at a long crystallization time (see Fig. 5).
It can be noticed that in the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films,
the (111) orientation has been greatly suppressed. The reason for
this is not yet clear. The use of the RTP furnace might be a
possible reason. As reported by many researches,16–18,36 the de-
velopment of (111) orientation was considered to arise from
lead-rich intermediate phases PtxPb due to lattice match. These
intermediate phases were unstable and tended to decompose at a
high temperature. Because in this study the RTP furnace was
used, the temperature was increased very rapidly so that the
formation of the intermediate phases was skipped. Another pos-
sible reason could be the existence of BiScO3, which may sup-
press the formation of the intermediate phases PtxPb at the
interface. This needs to be further proved in the future work.
Hence, the growth of the (111) orientation was suppressed.
However, it is only a primary result of this study. More efforts
will be focused on more detailed HRTEM studies to provide
more evidences for the proposed mechanism in the future work.
IV. Conclusions
BSPT thin films with a single perovskite phase, a dense micro-
structure, and uniform grains were fabricated using a sol–gel
method. By investigating the effects of different factors on the
orientation growth of sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films, we found
that higher lead excess concentration, longer drying time, higher
pyrolysis temperature, longer pyrolysis time, higher crystalliza-
tion temperature, and longer crystallization time could enhance
the (100) orientation of the BSPT thin films. Based on these ex-
perimental results, a mechanism for the orientation evolution in
BSPT thin films was proposed. During the pyrolysis process,
when the pyrolysis temperature is higher than 4501C, PbO nano-
crystals precipitate from the amorphous film. As these nano-
crystals occur at the film–substrate interface, they tend to be
(100) oriented, which may act as seeds for the nucleation of
BSPT (100) due to lattice match. During the crystallization pro-
cess, the heterogeneous nucleation events take place on these
seeds, and the BSPT (100) orientation is produced.
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