Raman spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction investigations of epitaxial BiCrO3 thin films

Epitaxial BiCrO3 thin films were grown onto NdGaO3 (110)- and (LaAlO3)0.3-(Sr2AlTaO6)0.7 (100)-oriented substrates by pulsed laser deposition. High resolution X-ray diffraction and pole figure measurements were performed in order to obtain information about the crystal structure of the films, about their quality and about the mutual crystallographic orientation between the films and the substrates. The monoclinic (111) plane of BiCrO3 was found out to be parallel to the substrate surface. The epitaxial relation between films and substrates was verified by using polarisation dependent Raman spectroscopic experiments and theoretical calculations based on symmetry.