Gold oxide thin film grown by pulsed laser deposition in an O2 atmosphere

Gold thin films were deposited by pulsed laser deposition in presence of an O2 atmosphere. The background gas pressure varied from 6.7 to 119.7 Pa and the target-to-substrate distance was kept constant at 30 mm. Structural analysis of the deposited films was conducted by means of X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Both X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis show that gold oxide is formed during reactive pulsed laser deposition of gold. The gold oxide content of the film increases up to about 85% as the O2 pressure reaches 53.2 Pa and remains constant for higher pressure. The stoichiometry of the gold oxide phase [O]/[Au] is 1.25, close to that expected for Au2O3, and does not vary with the O2 pressure. Gold oxide decomposes slowly with time upon exposure to the ambient atmosphere.