Effects of process parameters on the LaNiO3 thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

LaNiO3 thin films were deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering on both (100) Si and platinized Si substrates. The effects of relative oxygen ratio, substrate and annealing temperatures on the microstructure and the electrical properties of the films were investigated. The La/Ni ratio was found to be influenced by the relative oxygen ratio. On the other hand, the orientation of LaNiO3 was significantly influenced by the substrate temperature. Highly (100)-oriented LaNiO3 thin films were obtained on SiO2/Si(100) and Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates when the substrates temperature was 300 °C with the relative oxygen ratio below 33%. In addition, the (100)-oriented LaNiO3 showed the lower resistivity than that of random-oriented LaNiO3.