Erbium oxide thin films on Si(100) obtained by laser ablation and electron beam evaporation

Erbium oxide thin films have been obtained by laser ablation and electron beam evaporation techniques on Si(100) substrates. The samples were grown under different conditions of oxygen atmosphere and substrate temperature without any oxidation process after deposition. The crystal structure has been studied by X-ray diffraction. Films obtained by laser ablation are highly textured in the [hhh] direction, although this depends on the conditions of oxygen pressure and substrate temperature. In order to study the depth composition profile of the thin films and the interdiffusion of erbium metal and oxygen towards the silicon substrates, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses have been carried out.