Structure control of pulsed-laser-deposited Pb_0.6Sr_0.4TiO₃/La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃ thin films on various substrates

Abstract

Structure development is an important issue for the growth of ferroelectric thin film. In the present experiment, Pb_0.6Sr_0.4TiO₃(PSrT)/La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃ (LSCO) thin films have been grown on various substrates, such as: single crystal Si with (100) and (111) orientations, Au/Si, Pt/Si and glass, using XeCl excimer laser (wavelength = 308 nm) under various processing conditions. X-ray diffraction results show that highly (100)-oriented LSCO films can be deposited successfully under appropriate processing conditions regardless the type of the substrate. PSrT films can be deposited upon LSCO layer with the same structure arrangements if LSCO can develop desired structures. It appears that appropriate processing parameters are more important than lattice parameter consideration for growing LSCO films using pulsed laser deposition. Microstructure investigations indicate that the substrate with an amorphous surface layer may help the development of the desired structure.

Key Words:

• PSrT
• LSCO
• PLD
• microstructure
• wavelength