Novel film growth technique of single crystalline In 2O 3(ZnO) m ( m=integer) homologous compound

Abstract

Single crystalline thin films of In 2O 3(ZnO) 5 were grown by a novel solid state diffusion technique using a ZnO epitaxial layer as solid template. Crystal quality of the film was evaluated by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Multilayered films composed of amorphous In 2O 3(ZnO) 4 and epitaxial ZnO were grown on (111) yttrium-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ) by a pulsed-laser-deposition method, followed by annealing the films fully covered by YSZ plate at 1450 °C in air. HR-XRD measurement revealed In 2O 3(ZnO) 5 to be a single crystalline film. Sharp diffraction peaks of (000 l) due to superlattices were seen in the out-of-plane HR-XRD pattern. Out-of-plane and in-plane orientations of the film and the substrate were In 2O 3(ZnO) 5 (0001)//YSZ (111) and In 2O 3(ZnO) 5 (11 2 ̄ 0)// YSZ (1 1 ̄ 0), respectively. Step and terrace structure was clearly observed in an AFM image of the In 2O 3(ZnO) 5 film.