The electrical and microstructural properties of pure strontium bismuth niobate (SBN) prepared by spin coating have been examined. Randomly ordered films have larger dielectric constants and remanent polarization values (maximum ofPr=12.5 &mgr;C/cm2) than doc-axis oriented films. The heretofore unexplained dependences ofPrupon Sr content in SBN and SBT is shown to be entirely due to the sensitivity of grain orientation to Sr content in SBN. Vertical shifts (Paxis) in the hysteresis curves are eliminated via ozone anneals. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.