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Interfacing Oxides

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Publications::

M. Jungbauer, S. Hühn, R. Egoavil, H. Tan, J. Verbeeck, G. Van Tendeloo, and V. Moshnyaga
Atomic Layer Epitaxy of Ruddlesden-Popper SrO(SrTiO3)n Films by means of Metalorganic Aerosol Deposition
Applied Physics Letters 105 (2014), 251603

We report an atomic layer epitaxial growth of Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) thin films of SrO(SrTiO3)n (n = ∞, 2, 3, 4) by means of metalorganic aerosol deposition (MAD). The films are grown on SrTiO3(001) substrates by means of a sequential deposition of Sr-O/Ti-O2 atomic monolayers, monitored in-situ by optical ellipsometry. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveal the RP structure with n = 2–4 in accordance with the growth recipe. RP defects, observed by TEM in a good correlation with the in-situ ellipsometry, mainly result from the excess of SrO. Being maximal at the film/substrate interface, the SrO excess rapidly decreases and saturates after 5–6 repetitions of the SrO(SrTiO3)4 block at the level of 2.4%. This identifies the SrTiO3 substrate surface as a source of RP defects under oxidizing conditions within MAD. Advantages and limitations of MAD as a solution-based and vacuum-free chemical deposition route were discussed in comparison with molecular beam epitaxy.

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