Pyroelectric properties of thin films of sputtered lithium tantalate

Thin films of pyroelectric material have been obtained on stainless-steel and molybdenum substrates by radiofrequency reactive sputtering and using single-crystal lithium tantalate as target. By changing the substrate temperature and the partial pressure of oxygen a variety of different growth conditions have been explored. Films having a dielectric constant and loss comparable to single-crystal values have been achieved and the best value of the pyroelectric coefficient was found to be about four times smaller than that of single-crystal Lithium tantalate.