Effect of substrate temperature on structure and electrical resistivity of laser-ablated IrO2 thin films

IrO2 thin films were prepared on Si(1 0 0) substrates by laser ablation. The effect of substrate temperature (Tsub) on the structure (crystal orientation and surface morphology) and property (electrical resistivity) of the laser-ablated IrO2 thin films was investigated. Well crystallized and single-phase IrO2 thin films were obtained at Tsub = 573-773 K in an oxygen partial pressure of 20 Pa. The preferred orientation of the laser-ablated IrO2 thin films changed from (2 0 0) to (1 1 0) and (1 0 1) depending on Tsub. With the increasing of Tsub, both the surface roughness and crystallite size increased. The room-temperature electrical resistivity of IrO2 thin films decreased with increasing Tsub, showing a low value of (42 ± 6) × 10−8 Ω m at Tsub = 773 K.