Epitaxial growth of Dy2O3 thin films on epitaxial Dy-germanide films on Ge(0 0 1) substrates

✍ Scribed by Md. Nurul Kabir Bhuiyan; Mariela Menghini; Jin Won Seo; Jean-Pierre Locquet

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 636 KB
• Volume: 88
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0167-9317
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mee.2010.11.028

✦ Synopsis

2 O 3 film High-j oxide Ge(0 0 1) substrate Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) Structural characterization a b s t r a c t Ultra-thin films of Dy are grown on Ge(0 0 1) substrates by molecular beam deposition near room temperature and immediately annealed for solid phase epitaxy at higher temperatures, leading to the formation of DyGe x films. Thin films of Dy 2 O 3 are grown on the DyGe x film on Ge(0 0 1) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. Streaky reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) patterns reveal that epitaxial DyGe x films grow on Ge(0 0 1) substrates with flat surfaces. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum suggests the growth of an orthorhombic phase of DyGe x films with (0 0 1) orientations. After the growth of Dy 2 O 3 films, there is a change in RHEED patterns to spotty features, revealing the growth of 3D crystalline islands. XRD spectrum shows the presence of a cubic phase with (1 0 0) and (1 1 1) orientations. Atomic force microscopy image shows that the surface morphology of Dy 2 O 3 films is smooth with a root mean square roughness of 10 Å.