Studies of metallic species and oxygen incorporation during sputter-deposition of SrBi2Ta2O9 films, using mass spectroscopy of recoiled ions

We have recently developed a mass spectroscopy of recoiled ions technique which is suitable for monolayer-specific surface analysis of thin films during growth. We present initial results using this technique to study the effect of different bottom electrode layers on metallic species and oxygen incorporation in the early stages of SrBi2Ta2O3 (SBT) film growth via ion beam-sputter deposition. The work discussed here has been focused on studying the incorporation of Sr, Bi, and Ta during growth of SBT on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si, Pt/MgO, Ti, and Si substrates. We found that the incorporation of Bi in sputter-deposited SBT films depends critically on the bottom electrode surface composition and the growth temperature. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.