Strain-assisted control of high stable dielectric tunability in (1 0 0) oriented (Pb,Sr)TiO3 thin films

Highlights: •The (1 0 0) (Pb,Sr)TiO3 thin films are strained by the Tb–PbTiO3 inducing layer. •The tunability is stable with the composition of the strained (Pb,Sr)TiO3 thin films. •The tunability of the strained (Pb,Sr)TiO3 thin films is stable from 20 °C to 200 °C. -- Abstract: The (1 0 0) oriented (Pb,Sr)TiO3 (PST) thin films were prepared using terbium-doped lead titanate as inducing layer. Misfit strain of the PST thin films changed gradually along direction of thickness and with different compositions. Controlled by the strain, the Curie temperature was independent of the composition of the PST and the width of the Curie peak was broadened. The as-prepared PST thin films exhibited stable high dielectric tunability which was almost independent of composition as well as applied temperature. With the composition of PST changing from PST35 (PbxSr1−xTiO3x = 0.35) to PST50, the room temperature tunability of the PST thin films maintains a stable value of about 40%. At a high applied temperature of 200 °C, the PST thin films still show a high tunability of about 35%. The strain-assisted control of the Curie temperature and the Curie peak width is attractive in designing high stable devices with high dielectric tunability