Morphology control of LiCoO2 thin film prepared by pulsed laser deposition

LiCoO₂ thin film samples have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition under different deposition conditions. A series of tests have been done to investigate the relationship between the film quality and the deposition conditions. The results from XRD show that the LiCoO₂ films deposited by PLD thermodynamically tend to form (003) preferred orientation. But the films grown at high repetition rate (35Hz) and low oxygen pressure (1Pa) show a random orientation. SEM and AFM images reveal that the size and uniformity of LiCoO₂ crystalline grains is directly depends on the deposition temperature and repetition rate. Therefore, by adjusting the deposition parameters, to achieve the purpose of LiCoO₂ thin film morphology control is feasible.