Thickness dependence of dielectric loss in SrTiO3 thin films

We have measured the dielectric loss in SrTiO3 thin films grown on SrRuO3 electrode layers with thickness ranging from 25 nm to 2.5 μm. The loss depends strongly on the thickness but differently above and below T≈80 K: as the thickness increases, the loss decreases at high temperatures but becomes higher at low temperatures. Our result suggests that, in the high temperature regime, the interfacial dead layer effect dominates while, in the low temperature regime, the losses related to the structural phase transition and quantum fluctuations are important.