Suppression of interface roughness between BaTiO3 film and substrate by Si3N4 buffer layer regarding aerosol deposition process

Abstract In order to decrease interface roughness, BaTiO 3 films of 300 nm thickness were deposited by aerosol deposition (AD) process on Pt/Ti/SiO 2 /Si, Si 3 N 4 /Pt/Ti/SiO 2 /Si, and ZnS/Pt/Ti/SiO 2 /Si substrates, respectively. As a result, the Si 3 N 4 buffer layer formed flatter interface roughness, and denser BaTiO 3 film with hardness of 7.39 GPa, due to its high hardness. This dense BaTiO 3 film had lower leakage current compared with the deposited films on Pt and ZnS. In addition, flat interface roughness led to the suppression of Fowler–Nordheim tunneling leakage current.