Various embodiments of the present technology enable growth of a-axis oriented barium titanate (BTO) films by inserting a relaxed strain control layer having a larger lattice constant than the c-axis of BTO and a similar thermal expansion mismatch. As a result, in-plane tensile stress causes BTO to grow with its ferroelectric polarization in-plane. Some embodiments allow for BTO films to immediately be grown on silicon with a-axis orientation, and without the need to create thick layers for relaxation. Using various embodiments of the present technology, the BTO can be grown in-plane with minimal dislocation density that is confined to the interface region.