Novel route for the epitaxial growth of (SrBa)Nb₂O₆thick films by the sol-gel method using a self-template layer

A novel sol-gel processing method has been developed to fabricate epitaxial (SrBa)Nb2O6(SBN) thin films on MgO substrates. It involves the introduction of a SBN self-template layer on MgO by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Effects of the SBN self-template layer on the structural and morphological properties of the sol-gel-derived SBN films were investigated. Compared to the sol-gel-derived SBN films without a self-template layer, our new technique produces SBN films of excellent epitaxy and more dense grains with uniform distribution. This can be explained by the self-template-layer-induced homoepitaxial growth. The innovative processing method with combination of PLD and sol-gel is a promising technique in preparing high-quality, thick epitaxial SBN films for electro-optics device applications.