Effect of thermal treatment on the electrical properties of the sol–gel-derived (Zr,Sn)TiO4 thin films

The effect of heating temperatures on the electrical properties of sol–gel-derived (Zr,Sn)TiO4 thin films deposited on a p-type (1 0 0) Si substrate was studied. The leakage currents of films with two different heating temperatures chosen to burn-out the solvent as a function of applied voltage were measured at different temperatures. The activation energies obtained from the Arrhenius plot of the leakage current density versus measured temperature for (Zr,Sn)TiO4 films were then extracted. Additionally, microstructures of films with two different heating temperatures chosen to burn-out the solvent were analyzed by a conductive atomic force microscope (AFM) and an X-ray diffraction (XRD). Finally, the conductive mechanisms of leakage current and leakage current correlated to microstructures were also discussed.