Chemical and microstructural evaluation techniques have been used to characterize sputter deposited 100-150 nm thick BaTiO3 nano-capacitors with 30 nm thick Ni electrodes fabricated on Si/SiO2 wafers. More than 99% of devices had resistance > 20 M Omega. Electrodes were found to have a roughness, R-a, of about 0.66 +/- 0.04 nm, and the BaTiO3 had a R-a value of 1.3 +/- 0.12 nm. Characterization of the BaTiO3 film chemistry with X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) showed the films had excess oxygen and Ba: Ti ratios ranging from 0.78 to 1.1, depending on sputtering conditions. X-ray diffraction showed a broad peak between approximately 20 degrees and 35 degrees 2 theta, indicating the films were either amorphous or contained grain sizes less than 5 nm. Focused ion beam images confirmed the presence of smooth, conformal films, with no visible signs of macro-defects such as pin-holes, cracks, or pores. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron diffraction patterns confirmed the presence of a nearly amorphous film with limited short range order. No correlation was found between the chemical and microstructural studies with the dielectric permittivity (280-1000), loss (0.02-0.09), and/or resistivity (8.7 x 10(10)-1.5 x 10(12) Omega cm) values. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.