Varying the Composition of Ferroelectric Films during Ion-Plasma Sputtering: Simulation and Experiment
Varying the elemental composition of ferroelectric thin films of barium strontium titanate, barium zirconate titanate, and barium stannate titanate solid solutions obtained by ion-plasma sputtering of ceramic targets at different pressures of the working gas is studied through simulation and experimentally. The experimental results are interpreted based on statistical simulation of the transport processes for fluxes of sputtered Ba, Sr, Sn, Zr, and Ti atoms in a gas medium. It is shown that the simulation results describe variations in the elemental composition satisfactorily (within 5%) in a wide range of working gas pressures. Theoretical and experimental studies enable us to choose the optimum values of technological parameters for obtaining ferroelectric thin films with specified elemental compositions that determine their electrophysical properties.