Heteroepitaxial growth of MgO films by dual ion beam sputtering

Magnesium oxide (MgO) films have been grown on (100) SrTiO3, (100)LaAlO3, and (100) yttria-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ) at the substrate temperature from 500 to 700 oC by dual ion beam sputtering. The MgO films were characterized by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), XRD and RHEED measurements revealed the epitaxial growth MgO along [100] orientation. It was shown that the epitaxial quality of MgO films was related to the substrate temperature and the current of assisted oxygen ion beam. Smooth and epitaxially grown surfaces have been obtained successfully even for the very thin films (30 nm). The results indicated that the dual ion beam sputtering technique was suitable for the deposition of oxide thin films with high reproducibility. (Author)