Single Oriented CeO2 Buffer Layer Deposition On Biaxially Textured Ni-W Substrate By RF Magnetron Sputtering

Physics of Energy Harvesting Division, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) - National Physical Laboratory,  Dr. K.S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110012, India

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2015, 6 (10), pp 883-887

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2015.5884

Publication Date (Web): Sep 18, 2015

Copyright © IAAM-VBRI Press

E-mail: singhp@mail.nplindia.org

Abstract

Considerable attention has been gained on the deposition of CeO₂ thin films with (200) single orientation as hetero-epitaxial buffer layer on (200) oriented biaxially textured flexible Ni substrates, in the fabrication of superconductor and semiconducting epitaxial thin films for device applications. In this work we have deposited (200) oriented CeO₂ thin films on biaxially textured Ni-W substrate in a single-step process by RF magnetron sputtering, using CeO₂ target. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that for the CeO₂ thin film deposited at RF sputtering power below 200 W and for the substrate temperature of 700 ^oC, the film assumes single (200) orientation. For the substrate temperature below 700 ^oC and RF sputtering powers above 200 W the film shows polycrystalline nature with (111) and (200) orientations. The Raman spectrum of single oriented (200) CeO₂ thin film shows only one sharp peak at about 464 cm^-1 corresponds to the presence of F_2g mode of CeO₂. The ellipsometry studies reveal the value refractive index and optical band gap of single oriented film as 2.52 and 3.41 eV, respectively.

Keywords

CeO₂ buffer layer, RF magnetron sputtering, XRD, Raman spectrum, optical properties.