Morphological and Structural Evolution of Chemically Deposited Epitaxially LaNiO3 Thin Films

Abstract

We report the preparation and characterization of epitaxial LaNiO3 (LNO) thin films by chemical solution deposition method using lanthanum and nickel acetylacetonates as starting reagents dissolved in propionic acid. In order to obtain further information regarding the decomposition behavior of the film, the precursor solution was dried to obtain the precursor powder, which was investigated by thermal analyses and X-ray diffraction measurements (XRD). The LNO perovskite thin films were deposited by spin coating on SrTiO3(100) single crystal substrates. A detailed study with different crystallization temperatures (600–900 °C) at two different heating ramps (5 and 10 °C/min) was performed. Oriented LaNiO3 thin films with good out-of-plane textures were obtained with optimal surface morphologies.