Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten

DS 11: Layer Deposition

DS 11.6: Talk

Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 11:00–11:15, REC/B214

Enhancing the antiferroelectric response of AgNbO₃ thin films — •Sreelakshmi Prasanna, Juliette Cardoletti, Philipp Komissinskiy, Thorsten Schneider, and Lambert Alff — Institute of Materials Science, TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

Dielectric capacitors are widely utilized in numerous advanced high power electronic systems due to their distinctive features of high-power density, ultrafast charge/discharge capability, long storage lifetime, etc. Among them, antiferroelectrics have attracted extensive attention for energy storage applications because of their double hysteresis loop and zero remnant polarization. Within this class of materials AgNbO₃-based lead-free perovskites are promising candidates due to their environmentally friendly nature and strong intrinsic antiferroelectric response. In this work, we have grown AgNbO₃ thin films using pulsed laser deposition and examined their structural properties using X-ray diffraction and SEM. The presence of metallic Ag particles on the AgNbO₃ surface with a size ranging from nanometres to micrometres indicates excessive Ag creating conductive pathways and severely compromise the electrical performance, suppressing the antiferroelectric behaviour. We demonstrate a post-annealing and post-deposition treatment to remove excessive Ag in grain boundaries and as well as on the surface, while preserving the AgNbO₃ phase.This procedure reduces the leakage current significantly and enables the access to the antiferroelectric properties of AgNbO₃. This simple and effective way to enhance the performance of AgNbO₃ thin films opens the way to their application in eco-friendly energy storage devices.

Keywords: Thin films; Pulsed laser deposition; Antiferroelectricity; Ag particles; Post-deposition treatment