What is it about?
This study involves the growth of epitaxial NiO and CrN thin films on single crystal Al_2 O_3 (11 ̅02) (r-plane sapphire) using reactive magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction analysis in ꞷ-2θ configuration revealed a tilted orientation of NaCl-structured NiO and CrN relative to the substrate, characterized by a tilt angle of ω=19.0˚. This determination arises from an in-depth and comprehensive pole-figure analysis of the NaCl-structured materials on r-plane sapphire. The complete epitaxial relations are described as (110)[2 ̅25 ̅]∥(9 9 ̅ 0 8)[112 ̅0] contrasting with more commonly observed (100) 〖[100]〗_NaCl∥(11 ̅02)〖[101 ̅0]〗_(Al_2 O_3 ).
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Why is it important?
These results stand out as most noteworthy, as they describe a common case of epitaxy (cubic materials on r-plane sapphire) but with largely unknown epitaxial relations and growth modes. This study delves into the unusual epitaxy of two significant cases of broad technological and scientific interest (NiO and CrN) thereby contributing to the understanding of growing NaCl-structured cubic materials onto r-plane sapphire.
Perspectives
The results provide a detailed characterization and analysis of the epitaxy, crystallography, and growth modes, and advance the understanding of unusual epitaxial growth modes on sapphire of NaCl-structured materials. We believe that the present work is therefore of interest in science and technology.
Faezeh Alijan Farzad Lahiji
Thin- Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, (IFM), Linköping University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Unusual tilted growth and epitaxial relationship of NaCl B1-structured NiO and CrN on r-plane Al2O3, Journal of Applied Physics, February 2024, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/5.0188559.
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