Epitaxial growth of yittria-stabilized zirconia oxide thinfilm on natively oxidized silicon wafer without an amorphouslayer

Abstract

By varying oxygen partial pressure duringdeposition, epitaxial yittria-stabilized zirconia thinfilms were grown on natively oxidized silicon wafer by thepulsed laser deposition technique. The commensurate crystallineinterface was attributed to the lower partial pressure at theinitial deposition stage, where the amorphous interfacial oxideis eliminated by the metal Zr (or Y) ions reacting with nativesilicon oxide on the surface of the silicon substrate. The partialpressure effect on the origin of re-growth of amorphousinterfacial oxide is discussed. The results demonstrate thatthe commensurate crystalline oxide can be obtained by an appropriatedeposition process, which sheds light on the fabrication ofhigh-quality crystalline thin films on Si wafers to promote theapplication of silicon-based electronic technology.