Heteroepitaxial Growth of CeO₂(001) Films on Si(001) Substrates by Pulsed Laser Deposition in Ultrahigh Vacuum

Abstract

Pulsed laser deposition in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) was applied to the epitaxial growth of CeO 2 film on Si(001). Although the direct deposition of CeO 2 (001) on Si(001) was unsuccessful, the desired epitaxy was achieved by inserting the growth of a SrTiO 3 layer. The formation of a CeO 2 (001)//SrTiO 3 (001)//Si(001) layered structure was verified by reflection high-energy electron diffraction analysis of the growing surface at a temperature between 650 and 700°C in UHV. In addition to lattice matching, chemical interaction at the growing surface had a decisive effect on the epitaxy and orientation of growing ceramic lattices.