Structural and dielectric properties of epitaxial Ba1−xSrxTiO3/Bi4Ti3O12/ZrO2 heterostructures grown on silicon

We report on the dielectric properties of an epitaxial heterostructure comprised of Ba1−xSrxTiO3, Bi4Ti3O12, and (ZrO2)0.91(Y2O3)0.09 grown on silicon substrates for potential use in microwave devices. Careful x-ray analysis indicates crystallographic alignment of all layers and transmission electron microscopy and Auger analysis reveals high quality epitaxy with minimal interdiffusion. The viability of using such heterostructures in actual microwave devices was assessed by incorporating the films in a coupled microstripline phase shifter design. The phase shifter devices, operating in the Ku band, had losses of less than 4 dB with a maximum phase shift of nearly 40° at 40 V. We compare this performance with a (Ba, Sr)TIO3/MgO phase shifter. These results presented represent significant progress towards integrating ferroelectric films with conventional silicon technology.