Effects of Oxygen Partial Pressure and Substrate Temperature on the Structure and Morphology of Sc and Y Co-Doped ZrO2 Solid Electrolyte Thin Films Prepared via Pulsed Laser Deposition

Scandium (Sc) and yttrium (Y) co-doped ZrO2 (ScYSZ) thin films were prepared on a SiO2-Si substrate via pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. In order to obtain good quality thin films with the desired microstructure, various oxygen partial pressures (PO2) from 0.01 Pa to 10 Pa and substrate temperatures (Ts) from 25 °C to 800 °C were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns results showed that amorphous ScYSZ thin films were formed at room substrate temperature while cubic polycrystalline thin films were obtained at higher substrate temperatures (Ts = 200 °C, 400 °C, 600 °C, 800 °C). Raman spectra revealed a distinct Raman shift at around 600 cm−1 supporting a cubic phase. However, a transition from cubic to tetragonal phase can be observed with increasing oxygen partial pressure. Photoemission spectroscopy (PES) spectra suggested supporting analysis that more oxygen vacancies in the lattice can be observed for samples deposited at lower oxygen partial pressures resulting in a cubic structure with higher dopant cation binding energies as compared to the tetragonal structure observed at higher oxygen partial pressure. On the other hand, dense morphologies can be obtained at lower PO2 (0.01 Pa and 0.1 Pa) while more porous morphologies can be obtained at higher PO2 (1.0 Pa and 10 Pa).

Growth of nanoporous high-entropy oxide thin films by pulsed laser deposition

High-entropy oxides (HEO) with entropic stabilization and compositional flexibility have great potential application in batteries and catalysis. In this work, HEO thin films were synthesized by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) from a rock-salt (Co0.2Ni0.2Cu0.2Mg0.2Zn0.2)O ceramic target. The films exhibited the target’s crystal structure, were chemically homogeneous, and possessed a three-dimensional (3D) island morphology with connected randomly shaped nanopores. The effects of varying PLD laser fluence on crystal structure and morphology were explored systematically. Increasing fluence facilitates film crystallization at low substrate temperature (300 °C) and increases film thickness (60–140 nm). The lateral size of columnar grains, islands (19 nm to 35 nm in average size), and nanopores (9.3 nm to 20 nm in average size) increased with increasing fluence (3.4 to 7.0 J/cm2), explained by increased kinetic energy of adatoms and competition between deposition and diffusion. Additionally, increasing fluence reduces the number of undesirable droplets observed on the film surface. The nanoporous HEO films can potentially serve as electrochemical reaction interfaces with tunable surface area and excellent phase stability. Graphical abstract

ROUGHNESS AND STRUCTURE OF InGaAsN THIN FILMS ON Si

Методом импульсного лазерного напыления в атмосфере аргоно-азотной газовой смеси из мишени InGaAs впервые были получены тонкие пленки InGaAsN на подложках GaAs и Si. Мишень lnGaAs формировалась методом одноосного прессования из порошков GaAs и lnAs. Методами атомно силовой микроскопии и рентгеновской дифракции исследованы морфология поверхности и структура данных тонких пленок. Показано, что пленки InGaAsN на Si имеют средний размер кристалла 0,93 нм, а пленки и InGaAsN на GaAs - 0,99 нм. Определено, что уменьшение давления аргоно-азотной смеси при импульсном лазерном напылении тонких пленок InGaAsN на подложках GaAs и Si приводит к снижению значения среднеквадратичной шероховатости поверхности. Наименьшую среднеквадратическую шероховатость равную 0,25 нм имела тонкая пленка InGaAsN на подложке GaAs, полученная в вакууме, наибольшую среднеквадратическую шероховатость имела тонкая пленка InGaAsN на подложке Si, полученная при давления аргоно-азотной смеси от 10 Па - 19,37 нм. By the method of pulsed laser deposition in atmosphere of an argon-nitrogen gas mixture, for the first time thin InGaAsN films on GaAs and Si substrates were obtained from the InGaAs target. The InGaAs target was formed by uniaxial pressing from GaAs and InAs powders. The surface morphology and structure of these thin films are studied by atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction. It is shown that InGaAsN films on Si have an average crystal size of 0,93 nm, and InGaAsN films on GaAs of 0,99 nm. It is determined that a decrease in the pressure of an argon-nitrogen mixture during pulsed laser deposition of thin InGaAsN films on GaAs and Si substrates leads to a decrease in the value of the root- mean-square roughness of the surface. The smallest root-mean-square roughness equal to 0,25 nm had a thin InGaAsN film on a GaAs substrate obtained in vacuum, the largest root-mean- square roughness of 19,37 nm had a thin InGaAsN film on a Si substrate obtained at the argon-nitrogen mixture pressure of 10 Pa -.