In situ grown epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7 − x thin films by pulsed laser deposition under reduced oxygen pressure during cool-down time

We report novel pulsed laser deposition conditions that were used to obtain superconducting epitaxial YBCO thin films, grown in situ using an oxygen pressure lower than the usual one during the cool-down time. We studied the influence of the PLD conditions as substrate temperature, oxygen pressure, laser fluence, and number of laser pulses on the crystallographic and morphological features, and on the superconducting properties of the films. Good superconducting properties were obtained without a high temperature post-deposition annealing process. A maximum critical temperature of 88.6 K was obtained.     

Structural and optical properties of pulsed laser deposited SrBi2Nb2O9 thin films

SrBi₂Nb₂O₉ (SBN) thin films were prepared on fused quartz substrates at room temperature by pulsed laser deposition. The influence of deposition parameters such as target-to-substrate distance, oxygen pressure and annealing temperature on film crystallization behavior was investigated by X-ray diffraction. Results indicated that the films grown at the optimum processing conditions have polycrystalline structure with a single layered perovskite phase. The optical transmittance of the films prepared at various oxygen pressures was measured in the wavelength range 200–900 nm using UV–vis spectrophotometer. The results showed that there is a red shift in the optical absorption edge with a rise in the oxygen pressure. Refractive index as a function of wavelength and optical band gap of the films were determined from the optical transmittance spectra. The results indicated that the refractive index increases with increasing oxygen pressure at the same incident light wavelength, while the band gap reduces from 4.13 to 3.88 eV. It may be attributed to an increase in packing density and grain size, and decrease in oxygen defects.     

Effect of oxygen pressure on structure and properties of Bi1.5Zn1.0Nb1.5O7 pyrochlore thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

The Bi₂O₃-ZnO-Nb₂O₅ (BZN) cubic pyrochlore thin films were prepared on Pt/TiO₂/SiO₂/Si(1 0 0) substrates by using pulsed laser deposition process. The oxygen pressure was varied in the range of 5-50 Pa to investigate its effect on the structure and dielectric properties of BZN thin films. It is found that oxygen pressure during deposition plays an important role on structure and other properties of BZN films. The BZN films deposited at temperature of 650 °C and at O₂ pressure of 5 Pa have an amorphous BZN and Nb₂O₅ phases but exhibits a cubic pyrochlore structure with a preferential (2 2 2) orientation when the oxygen pressure increases to 10 Pa. Dielectric constant and loss tangent of the films deposited at 10 Pa are 185 and 0.0008 at 10 kHz, respectively. The dielectric tunability is about 10% at a dc bias field of 0.9 MV/cm.     

Vanadium-Al2O3 nanostructured thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition: Optical switching

The formation and optical response of VO_x nanoparticles embedded in amorphous aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) thin films by pulsed laser deposition is studied. The thin films have been grown by alternate laser ablation of V and Al₂O₃ targets, which has resulted in a multilayer structure with embedded nanoparticles. The V content has been varied by changing the number of pulses on the V target. It is found that VO_x nanoparticles with dimensions around 5 nm have been formed. The structural analysis shows that the vanadium nanoparticles are oxidized, although probably there is not a unique oxide phase for each sample. The films show a different optical response depending on their vanadium content. Optical switching as a function of temperature has been observed for the two films with the highest vanadium content, at transition temperatures of about −20 °C and 315 °C thus suggesting the presence of nanoparticles with compositions V₄O₇ and V₂O₅, respectively.     

Role of crystal orientation on the magnetic properties of CoFe2O4 thin films grown on Si (1 0 0) and Al2O3 (0 0 0 1) substrates using pulsed laser deposition

We report the influence of crystal orientation on the magnetic properties of CoFe₂O₄ (CFO) thin films grown on single crystal Si (1 0 0) and c-cut sapphire (Al₂O₃) (0 0 0 1) substrates using pulsed laser deposition technique. The thickness was varied from 200 to 50 nm for CFO films grown on Si substrates, while it was fixed at 200 nm for CFO films grown on Al₂O₃ substrates. We observed that the 200 and 100 nm thick CFO-Si films grew in both (1 1 1) and (3 1 1) directions and displayed out-of-plane anisotropy, whereas the 50 nm thick CFO-Si film showed only an (1 1 1) orientation and an in-plane anisotropy. The 200 nm thick CFO film grown on an Al₂O₃ substrate was also found to show a complete (1 1 1) orientation and a strong in-plane anisotropy. These observations pointed to a definite relation between the crystalline orientation and the observed magnetic anisotropy in the CFO thin films.     

Epitaxial strain-induced magnetic anisotropy in Sm3Fe5O12 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

Sm₃Fe₅O₁₂ thin films of various thicknesses were grown on a (0 0 1)-oriented Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂ substrate by pulsed laser deposition. The crystal structure of the films was strongly dependent on film thickness. The lattice was strained for thinner films due to a lattice mismatch between the film and substrate. This lattice strain was relaxed when the film thickness exceeded a critical thickness of around 660 Å. It is suggested that the epitaxial strain induces uniaxial magnetic anisotropy with an out-of-plane magnetic easy axis.     

Lead-free ferroelectric BaTiO3 doped-(Na0.5Bi0.5)TiO3 thin films processed by pulsed laser deposition technique

The difficulties in synthesizing phase pure BaTiO₃ doped-(Na_0.5Bi_0.5)TiO₃ are known. In this work, we reporting the optimized pulsed laser deposition (PLD) conditions for obtaining pure phase 0.92(Na_0.5Bi_0.5)TiO₃-0.08BaTiO₃, (BNT-BT_0.08), thin films. Dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of BNT-BT_0.08, thin films deposited by PLD on Pt/TiO₂/SiO₂/Si substrates are investigated in this paper. Perovskite structure of BNT-BT_0.08 thin films with random orientation of nanocrystallites has been obtained by deposition at 600 °C. The relative dielectric constant and loss tangent at 100 kHz, of BNT-BT_0.08 thin film with 530 nm thickness, were 820 and 0.13, respectively. Ferroelectric hysteresis measurements indicated a remnant polarization value of 22 μC/cm² and a coercive field of 120 kV/cm. The piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) data showed that most of the grains seem to be constituted of single ferroelectric domain. The as-deposited BNT-BT_0.08 thin film is ferroelectric at the nanoscale level and piezoelectric.     

Picosecond nonlinear optical response of Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Well-crystallized Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ thin films with good surface morphology were prepared on MgO(1 0 0) substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique at a deposition temperature of 800 °C under the oxygen pressure of 2 × 10⁻³ Pa. X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the films. The full width at half maximum of the (0 0 2) Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ rocking curve and the root-mean-square surface roughness within the 5 μm × 5 μm area were 0.542° and 0.555 nm, respectively. The nonlinear optical properties of the films were determined by a single beam Z-scan method at a wavelength of 532 nm with laser duration of 55 ps. The results show that Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ thin films exhibit a fast third-order nonlinear optical response with the nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption coefficient being n₂ = 5.04 × 10⁻⁶ cm²/kW and β = 3.59 × 10⁻⁶ (m/W), respectively.     

Effect of deposition temperature on orientation and electrical properties of (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 thin films by pulsed laser deposition

Lead-free ferroelectric K_0.5Na_0.5NbO₃ (KNN) thin films have been prepared on Pt/TiO₂/SiO₂/Si substrates by pulsed laser deposition process. The structures, crystal orientations and electrical properties of thin films have been investigated as a function of deposition temperature from 680 °C to 760 °C. It is found that the deposition temperature plays an important role in the structures, crystal orientations and electrical properties of thin films. The crystallization of thin films improves with increasing deposition temperature. The thin film deposited at 760 °C exhibits strong (0 0 1) preferential orientation, large dielectric constant of 930 and the remnant polarization of 8.54 μC/cm².     

Effects of deposition temperature on the structural and morphological properties of SnO2 films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Tin oxide (SnO₂) thin films were grown on Si (1 0 0) substrates using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in O₂ gas ambient (10 Pa) and at different substrate temperatures (RT, 150, 300 and 400 °C). The influence of the substrate temperature on the structural and morphological properties of the films was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD measurements showed that the almost amorphous microstructure transformed into a polycrystalline SnO₂ phase. The film deposited at 400 °C has the best crystalline properties, i.e. optimum growth conditions. However, the film grown at 300 °C has minimum average root mean square (RMS) roughness of 3.1 nm with average grain size of 6.958 nm. The thickness of the thin films determined by the ellipsometer data is also presented and discussed.     

Thickness effect in Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 ferroelectric thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

Epitaxial Pb(Zr_,Ti)O₃ (PZT) thin films with thicknesses in the range of 50-200 nm and with 0.2 Zr/(Zr + Ti) ratio, were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD).The substrates used for PLD deposition are single crystalline 0.5% Nb-doped (1 0 0) SrTiO₃ (STON). SrRuO₃ (SRO) thin films were deposited as bottom and top electrodes in order to have minimum structural misfit, to insure on one side high quality growth, and on the other side to minimize the influence of the extended structural defects. Structural and electrical characterization was performed. The epitaxial PZT films are c-axis oriented and have an average roughness of 0.4 nm. The ferroelectric behavior was proved in all investigated films by the presence of the hysteresis loops and by the butterfly shape of the capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics. The ferroelectricity was present even in the samples with relative high leakage currents, down to a thickness of 50 nm. These results are essential when small thickness is needed for miniaturization of ferroelectric devices using PZT.     

Structural and optical properties of SrCu2O2 films deposited on sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition

We deposited SrCu₂O₂ (SCO) films on sapphire (Al₂O₃) (0 0 0 1) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The crystallographic orientation of the SCO thin film showed clear dependence on the growth temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis showed that the film deposited at 400 °C was mainly oriented in the SCO [2 0 0] direction, whereas when the growth temperature was increased to 600 °C, the SCO film showed a dominant orientation of SCO [1 1 2]. The SCO film deposited at 500 °C was obvious polycrystalline, showing multi peaks from (2 0 0), (1 1 2), and (2 1 1) diffraction in the XRD spectrum. The SCO film deposited at 600 °C showed a band gap energy of 3.3 eV and transparency up to 80% around 500 nm. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the SCO films grown at 500 °C and 600 °C mainly showed blue-green emission, which was attributed to the intra-band transition of the isolated Cu⁺ and Cu⁺–Cu⁺ pairs according to the temperature dependent-PL analysis.     

Spectroscopic characterization of TiCx films produced by pulsed laser deposition in CH4 environments

Titanium carbide (TiC_x) thin films were grown on (1 0 0)-Si substrates by a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method using a Ti target in methane gas. The films are characterized in situ by Auger (AES), electron energy loss (EELS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies (XPS). It was found that the reaction between the ablated Ti species and CH₄ in the plasma plume influenced the C:Ti ratio. XPS numerical fitting for the C 1s transition revealed three Gaussians components. The main component, binding energy of 282.8 eV, is assigned to C making bonds with Ti, like in stoichiometric TiC. The second component, binding energy of 284.9 eV, is assigned to C---C bonds. A third component is found for films deposited at pressures higher than 25 mTorr at 286.5 eV. A post-deposition thermal treatment demonstrates that the Ti---C and C---C peaks are very stable, whereas, the third peak tends to decrease for temperatures higher than 200 °C. It is assumed that this last component is due to carbonyl complexes remnant in films. Finally, it can be concluded that the titanium carbide films processed by PLD is a chemically inhomogeneous material; mostly composed of sub-stoichiometric TiC and particulates of segregated carbon.     

Structural, optical and magnetic properties of Nd-doped BiFeO3 thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Nd-doped BiFeO₃ thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition on quartz substrate and their structural, optical and magnetic properties have been studied. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that Nd addition caused structural distortion even with 5% of Nd concentration, additional secondary phase appeared in all samples but its intensity was greatly reduced with Nd addition. Doping-induced variations in texture and structure modifying both magnetic and optical properties of BiFeO₃ thin films. The energy band gap decreases while the refractive index increases with addition of Nd³⁺ in BiFeO₃ for Bi³⁺. These variations in energy band gap and refractive index have been explained on the basis of density of states and increase in disorders in the system. All the samples were found to exhibit ferromagnetism at room temperature and the saturation magnetization increases with the increase in structural distortion with addition of Nd. Finally, Nd-doping modifies the physical properties of BiFeO₃ in comparison to undoped BiFeO₃ thin films.     

Structural, optical and magnetic properties of (ZnO)1−x(MnO2)x thin films deposited at room temperature

The structural, magnetic and optical properties of (ZnO)_1−x(MnO₂)_x (with x = 0.03 and 0.05) thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) were studied. The pellets used as target, sintered at different temperatures ranging from 500 °C to 900 °C, were prepared by conventional solid state method using ZnO and MnO₂ powders. The observation of non-monotonic shift in peak position of most preferred (1 0 1) ZnO diffraction plane in XRD spectra of pellets confirmed the substitution of Mn ions in ZnO lattice of the sintered targets. The as-deposited thin film samples are found to be polycrystalline with the preferred orientation mostly along (1 1 0) diffraction plane. The UV-vis spectroscopy of the thin films revealed that the energy band gap exhibit blue shift with increasing Mn content which could be attributed to Burstein-Moss shift caused by Mn doping of the ZnO. The deposited thin films exhibit room temperature ferromagnetism having effective magnetic moment per Mn atom in the range of 0.9-1.4μ_B for both compositions.     

Structure, morphology and optical properties of SiO2−x thin films prepared by plasma-assisted pulsed laser deposition

The amorphous silicon oxide SiO_2−x thin films were prepared by the plasma-assisted pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. X-ray diffraction spectrometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV-VIS-NIR scanning spectrophotometry and ellipsometry were used to characterize the crystallinity, microscopic morphology and optical properties of obtained thin films. The influences of substrate temperatures, oxygen partial pressures and oxygen plasma assistance on the compositions of silicon oxide (SiO_2−x) thin films were investigated. Results show that the deposited thin films are amorphous and have high surface quality. Stoichiometric silicon dioxide (SiO₂) thin film can be obtained at elevated temperature of 200 °C in an oxygen plasma-assisted atmosphere. Using normal incidence transmittance, a novel and simple method has been proposed to evaluate the value of x in transparent SiO_2−x thin films on a non-absorbing flat substrate.     

Crystallization and surface segregation in CuIn0.7Ga0.3Se2 thin films on Cu foils grown by pulsed laser deposition

This work reports unexpected crystallization and segregation behavior of CuIn_0.7Ga_0.3Se₂ (CIGS) thin films deposited on flexible Cu foils by pulsed laser deposition. A composite-type microstructure containing nanometer-scaled CIGS crystallites embedded in amorphous Cu-rich matrix is observed even at the high temperature of 500 °C. The findings are attributed to very fast condensation of the ablated species and random nucleation induced from the amorphous matrix. Cu-rich particulates tend to precipitate on the film surface, and their average size, shape, number density and composition exhibit a strong dependence on the substrate temperature up to 500 °C. The similar crystallization properties of the films on Cu foils and glass substrates are noticeable to the use of Cu foils for flexible solar cells.     

ZnO nanostructured thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition in mixed O2 / Ar background gas

We report on the properties of ZnO nanostructured thin films grown on either bare or gold patterned a-plane sapphire substrates. The pulsed laser deposition technique was used to deposit all the films at a temperature of 700 C in a mixture of oxygen and argon under a total pressure of 35 Pa. SEM surface characterizations typically showed pyramidal nanostructures with hexagonal symmetry and a coverage density strongly dependent on the O₂ partial pressure. For the patterned samples, wall-like structures of nanoneedles were observed. For all samples, x-ray diffraction results confirmed the high crystalline quality of the nanostructures, with the rocking curve widths of the (0002) reflection as low as 0.09. Similarly, photoluminescence results at room temperature testified to the high optical quality of the material.     

Fabrication and vacuum annealing of transparent conductive Ga-doped Zn0.9Mg0.1O thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition technique

In this study, highly transparent conductive Ga-doped Zn_0.9Mg_0.1O (ZMO:Ga) thin films have been deposited on glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The effects of substrate temperature and post-deposition vacuum annealing on structural, electrical and optical properties of ZMO:Ga thin films were investigated. The properties of the films have been characterized through Hall effect, double beam spectrophotometer and X-ray diffraction. The experimental results show that the electrical resistivity of film deposited at 200 °C is 8.12 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm, and can be further decreased to 4.74 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm with post-deposition annealing at 400 °C for 2 h under 3 × 10⁻³ Pa. In the meantime, its band gap energy can be increased to 3.90 eV from 3.83 eV. The annealing process leads to improvement of (0 0 2) orientation, wider band gap, increased carrier concentration and blue-shift of absorption edge in the transmission spectra of ZMO:Ga thin films.     

VO2-WO3 nanocomposite thin films synthesized by pulsed laser deposition technique

Pure VO₂ and VO₂-WO₃ composite thin films were grown on quartz substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The influence of varying WO₃ molar concentration in the range from x = 0.0 to x = 0.4 on structural, electrical and optical properties of VO₂-WO₃ nanocomposite thin films has been systematically investigated. X-ray diffraction studies reveal the single crystalline monoclinic VO₂ phase (m-VO₂) up to 10% of WO₃ content whereas both m-VO₂ as well as h-WO₃ (hexagonal WO₃) phases were present at higher WO₃ content (0.2 ≤ x ≤ 0.4). Optical transmittance spectra of the films showed blue shift in the absorption edge with increase in WO₃ content. Temperature dependence of resistivity (R-T) measurements indicates significant variation in metal-insulator transition temperature, width of the hysteresis, and shape of the hysteresis curve. Cyclic Voltammetry measurements were performed on VO₂-WO₃ thin films. A direct correlation between V/W ratio and structure-property relationship was established. The present investigations reveal that doping of WO₃ in VO₂ is effective to increase the optical transmittance and to reduce the semiconductor to metal phase transition temperature close to room temperature.