Growth diagram of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 thin films using pulsed laser deposition

Authors

Hangwen Guo, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Dali Sun, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Wenbin Wang, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Zheng Gai, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Ivan Kravchenko, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Jian Shao, Fudan University
Lu Jiang, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Thomas Z. Ward, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Paul C. Snijders, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Lifeng Yin, Fudan University
Jian Shao, Fudan UniversityFollow
Xiaoshan Xu, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2013

Document Type

Article

Citation

J. Appl. Phys. 113, 234301 (2013)

Comments

Used by permission.

Abstract

An experimental study was conducted on controlling the growth mode of La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ thin films on SrTiO₃ substrates using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) by tuning growth temperature, pressure, and laser fluence. Different thin film morphology, crystallinity, and stoichiometry have been observed depending on growth parameters. To understand the microscopic origin, the adatom nucleation, step advance processes, and their relationship to film growth were theoretically analyzed and a growth diagram was constructed. Three boundaries between highly and poorly crystallized growth, 2D and 3D growth, stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric growth were identified in the growth diagram. A good fit of our experimental observation with the growth diagram was found. This case study demonstrates that a more comprehensive understanding of the growth mode in PLD is possible.