Selective reaction and chemical anisotropy in epitaxial bismuth layer-structured ferroelectric thin films

Bismuth layer-structured ferroelectric thin films consisting of a stacking of pseudoperovskite and bismuth oxide blocks along the c-axis were epitaxially grown on single-crystal substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and a selective reaction of the bismuth oxide layer with HCl was demonstrated. Epitaxial films with contrasting crystal orientations were used for the acid treatment in order to probe chemical anisotropy. For a/b-axis-oriented SrBi₂Ta₂O₉, Bi ₄Ti₃O₁₂, and SrBi₄Ti ₄O₁₅ films with sequential stacking of the two vertical blocks, notable structural selectivity of the reaction was observed only for SrBi₂Ta₂O₉. For this film, the pseudoperovskite block remained and the bismuth oxide block was removed, while both blocks of Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ and SrBi₄Ti ₄O₁₅ dissolved into the acid. In addition to the bismuth, the other cations in the pseudoperovskite blocks, strontium and titanium, also decreased for Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ and SrBi ₄Ti₄O₁₅. The selective reaction observed for a/b-axis-oriented SrBi₂Ta₂O₉, however, was not observed for c-axis-oriented SrBi₂Ta₂O₉ films in which the pseudoperovskite and bismuth oxide blocks were stacked horizontally. The results clearly show that SrBi₂Ta₂O ₉ has sub-nano-order structural selectivity and chemical anisotropy in the unit cell in the reaction with HCl.