Orientation selective growth of MgO films on Si (100) by pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

Selective growth of single-oriented (110), (100) and (111) MgO films on Si(100) substrates without buffer layers was obtained via a two-step method by pulsed laser deposition. It was found that the orientation of the films was determined at the initial deposition stage by the substrate temperature only. The ambient pressure during deposition, the laser fluence and the etching of the Si substrates have no apparent effect on the orientation of the films, but affect their crystalline quality. Under the present deposition conditions, the surfaces of all three different single-oriented films were very smooth and devoid of any particulates.