Improved thin film growth using Slow Kinetics Intermittent Sputtering

Article Article scientifique Article Improved thin film growth using Slow Kinetics Intermittent Sputtering eng 2020 author Weymann Christian 700408 author Lichtensteiger Céline 504589 author Fernandez-Peña Stéphanie author Cordero Eduards Rohini Kumara 908269 author Paruch Patrycja 126293 10.1016/j.apsusc.2020.146077 0169-4332 https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0169433220308333 Radio-frequency off-axis magnetron sputtering is a well established technique to produce high quality epitaxial thin films of complex oxides. It has been successfully used for over two decades to grow thin films, superlattices and even solid solutions. The main drawback is the common lack of in situ monitoring of the growth, which can significantly slow down the optimisation of the many growth parameters. However, once the optimal parameters are found, they are usually very stable in time, leading to consistently high quality thin films. One of the main growth parameters is the growth temperature, with typical optimal ranges as narrow as 20 °C. Here, using the prototypical ferroelectric PbTiO3 as a model system, we show that by periodically interrupting the deposition process to allow the deposited material to relax, we can significantly increase the temperature range over which we obtain atomically flat surfaces to more than 50 °C. Moreover, the overall crystalline quality is greatly improved, as shown by X-ray diffraction. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of this method to other materials. Epitaxial ultra-thin films Sputtering Growth temperature Surface quality Crystalline quality Dewey 500.2 Swiss National Science Foundation Division II grant 200021_178782 CH 33 Département de physique de la matière quantique 131 false 786 Groupe Paruch http://doi.org/10.26037/yareta:wdmelj7tcrgshkc4eina32jl2e Applied Surface Science 516 146077 400aa78a-4789-4a71-9261-5d0a36b25563 Article (Published version) Public Weymann-ASS-2020.pdf 2899790 application/pdf CC BY-NC-ND openAccess Faculté des sciences / Section de physique / Département de physique de la matière quantique

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Improved thin film growth using Slow Kinetics Intermittent Sputtering	Applied Surface Science			2020	744	169

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Cordero Eduards, Rohini Kumara