Growth of strontium ruthenate films by hybrid molecular beam epitaxy
Abstract
We report on the growth of epitaxial Sr2RuO4 films using a hybrid molecular beam epitaxy approach in which a volatile precursor containing RuO4 is used to supply ruthenium and oxygen. The use of the precursor overcomes a number of issues encountered in traditional molecular beam epitaxy that uses elemental metal sources. Phase-pure, epitaxial thin films of Sr2RuO4 are obtained. At high substrate temperatures, growth proceeds in a layer-by-layer mode with intensity oscillations observed in reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Films are of high structural quality, as documented by x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The method should be suitable for the growth of other complex oxides containing ruthenium, opening up opportunities to investigate thin films that host rich exotic ground states.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.4998772
Entities
People
- Honggyu Kim
- Kaveh Ahadi
- Patrick B. Marshall
- Susanne Stemmer
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- United States Department of Energy