LAUSR

Abstract The BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films were prepared on Pt(111)TiO2/SiO2/Si substrates by the sol-gel method at different annealing temperatures. The crystalline structure and domain configuration of BFO films have been investigated by X-ray diffraction and piezoelectric force microscope (PFM), respectively. From the X-ray patterns, there are less impurity peaks when the BFO films are annealed at 600 °C. From the PFM images, the polarization is random and the grain size decreases with the increasing of annealing temperature. It is found that the possibility of single-domain grain formation increased with the decreasing of grain size, and the biggest single-domain grains is about 200 nm in diameter. Besides, a typical domain wall is observed, and it is 71° or 109°.