High-speed epitaxial growth of SrTiO3 films on MgO substrates by laser chemical vapor deposition

Epitaxial (100) and (111) SrTiO3 films were prepared on (100) and (111) MgO single-crystal substrates, respectively, using laser chemical vapor deposition. The effect of deposition temperature (Tdep) on the orientation and microstructure of the SrTiO3 films was investigated. On the (100) MgO substrates, SrTiO3 films showed a (111) orientation at a low Tdep of 1023 K. (100) SrTiO3 films, which were epitaxially grown at Tdep=1123–1203 K, had dense cross sections and flat surfaces with rectangular-shaped terraces. On the (111) MgO substrates, (111) SrTiO3 films were epitaxially grown at Tdep=983–1063 K; however, these films' orientations became random at high Tdep of 1063–1113 K. The (111) SrTiO3 films consisted of columnar grains with triangular pyramidal caps. The deposition rates of the epitaxial (100) and (111) SrTiO3 films were 13–25 and 18–32 μm h−1, respectively, which is 5–530 times higher than those obtained by MOCVD.