Low biased voltage induced textured growth of LiNbO3 films on silicon wafer

In this work, it has been found that a low electric biased voltage of up to 120 V applied during pulsed laser deposition of LiNbO3 films has a significant influence on the orientation of LiNbO3 films. By applying a biased voltage of about 110 V (7–8 V/cm) in LiNbO3 film, completely c-oriented LiNbO3 films with their poling direction parallel to the biased electric field have been achieved on fused silica and amorphous SiO2 coated silicon wafer. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the microstructure of the films. The films are single phased, smooth and nearly stoichiometric. The effects of biased voltage on the orientation of the films were analyzed based on the theory of the nucleation of LiNbO3 with spontaneous polarization under the influence of electric field.