Thin Na0.5K0.5NbO3 films for varactor applications

Single phase Na0.5K0.5NbO3 (NKN) thin films have been pulsed laser deposited on SiO2/Si(001) wafers and LaAlO3(001) and MgO(001) single crystals. Radio frequency (up to 1 MHz) and microwave (up to 50 GHz) dielectric spectroscopy studies have been carried out to characterize thin NKN films for electrically tunable microwave device applications. Films on single crystal oxide substrates showed tunabilities as high as 30-40 % at 40 V bias and dissipation factor of 0.01-0.02 at 1 MHz. The films on Si substrates showed low dielectric losses of < 0.01, and low leakage currents. Dielectric properties of ferroelectric films on Si substrates at low frequencies are greatly influenced by the depletion capacitance and the resistance inserted by semiconductor substrate. Microwave frequency measurements for NKN film on Si wafers yield more than 10 % tunability at 50 GHz and loss tan delta <0.1 at 10 GHz.