The growth of iron oxide, nickel oxide and cobalt oxide thin films by laser ablation from metal targets

Thin films of iron oxide, nickel oxide and cobalt oxide have been grown by the technique of laser ablation. The films have been deposited on [100] LaAlO₃, SrTiO₃, MgO and cubic zirconia (YSZ); on sapphire, mica, glass slides and Kapton. High quality c axis [100] oriented growth occurs for Fe₃O₄ and NiO on the first three substrates; on YSZ the films grow [111] oriented, Co₃O₄ grows [100] oriented on SrTiO₃ and MgO, [111] oriented on YSZ and randomly oriented on LaAlO₃. All three materials grow twinned on YSZ. Growth of the materials on glass slides gives both [111] and [100] oriented growth depending on the growth rate. However the films are randomly oriented in the plane of the glass slide. Amorphous films result for growth on sapphire, mica and Kapton substrates. The conditions for the optimum growth of highly oriented films are presented along with the X-ray texture plots showing the film quality