Photo-excitation enhanced high temperature conductivity and crystallization kinetics in ultra-thin La0.6Sr0.4Co0.8Fe0.2O3−δ films

The synthesis of high performance nanostructured oxide electrodes is critical to advancement of energy technologies such as intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells. In this communication, we demonstrate that photo-excitation during crystallization of nanostructured 60-nm-thick La0.6Sr0.4Co0.8Fe0.2O3−δ films leads to a significant improvement in electrical conductivity. Crystallization kinetics is also enhanced by photo-excitation while the crystallization onset temperature remains similar.