Effect of O2/Ar flow ratio and post-deposition annealing on the structural, optical and electrical characteristics of SrTiO3 thin films deposited by RF sputtering at room temperature

SrTiO3 (STO) thin films have been prepared by reactive RF magnetron sputtering on Si (100) and UV fused silica substrates at room temperature. The effect of oxygen flow on film characteristics was investigated at a total gas flow of 30 sccm, for various O2/O2 + Ar flow rate ratios. As-deposited films were annealed at 700 °C in oxygen atmosphere for 1 h. Post-deposition annealing improved both film crystallinity and spectral transmittance. Film microstructure, along with optical and electrical properties, was evaluated for both as-deposited and annealed films. Abroad photoluminescence emission was observed within the spectral range of 2.75–3.50 eV for all STO thin films irrespective of their deposition parameters. Upon annealing, the optical band gap of the film deposited with 0% O2 concentration slightly blue-shifted, while the other samples grown at higher oxygen partial pressure did not show any shift. Refractive indices (n) (at 550 nm) were in the range of 2.05 to 2.09, and 2.10 to 2.12 for as-deposited and annealed films, respectively. Dielectric constant values (at 100 kHz) within the range of 30–66 were obtained for film thicknesses less than 300 nm, which decreased to ~30–38 after postdeposition annealing.