Structural analysis of Ni-doped SrTiO_: XRD Study

The aim of this work is to study the structure of Ni-doped SrTiO₃ thin films by X-ray diffraction (XRD). All samples were prepared by magnetron sputtering on Si and SiO₂ substrates. The main objective of this work is to monitor the crystallization of the deposited thin layer of Ni-doped SrTiO₃. The X-ray diffraction measurements were done on the films as deposited and after annealing in vacuum up to 900 grad C. The x-ray analysis was used with both geometries (symmetric and asymmetric). Those measurements allow us to get information about the influence of Ni on the final structure, the size of crystallites, the micro-strains and the deformation of the lattice. In particular, here we demonstrate that Ni doping lead to the unique stabilisation of crystal growth of SrTiO₃ as compared to the undoped SrTiO₃. (authors)