Epitaxial growth of single-crystal (La,Ca)MnO3 thin films

Abstract

Single-crystal films of perovskitelike (La,Ca)MnO3 with very smooth surface were grown epitaxially on (110) NdGaO3 substrates by a simple facing-target sputtering technique. Their in-plane and out-of-plane crystal structures were examined by means of a novel double-crystal x-ray diffraction technique. The c axis of the samples lay in the film plane. All rocking curves were found to have a full width at half-maximum of about 0.01° which is smaller than all reported structure data for ceramic thin films.