Nitrogen-incorporated (Ba, Sr)$TiO_3$ thin films fabricated by r.f.- magnetron sputtering

In this study, two kinds of barium strontium titanate (BST) samples were prepared. One is a conventional BST film that is sputtered in a mixture of argon and oxygen. The other is a nitrogen-incorporated BST film that is sputtered in a mixture of oxygen and intentionally added nitrogen instead of argon gas. The structural properties of both of the BST films had not changed significantly with the species of sputtering gas. However, the leakage current of BST films sputtered at ($N_2$+O$_2$) atmosphere was lower than those sputtered at (Ar +O$_2$) atmosphere: 1.9$\times$10$^{-8}$ A/cm$^2$ at 2V for the films prepared at (Ar +O$_2$) atmosphere and 8.6$\times$10$^{-9}$ A/cm$^2$ for the films at ($N_2$+O$_2$) atmosphere. From an XPS analysis, it has been found that nitrogen atoms are incorporated in BST films with a concentration of 1.92 at% and form a certain oxynitride phase. It is proposed that nitrogen atoms are able to fill the oxygen vacancies of BST films during sputtering process, and then the leakage current reduces due to a decrease in the vacancies. The BST films sputtered at ($N_2$+O$_2$) atmosphere have superior electrical properties to the films sputtered at (Ar +O$_2$), without any significant structural changes.