Heteroepitaxial growth of lanthanum aluminate films derived from mixed metal nitrates

Abstract

Epitaxial lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO3) thin films were deposited on single-crystal substrates by pyrolysis of spin-on mixed nitrate precursors. The films are epitaxial without any second phase. TEM micrographs show that all of these films have pores with sizes ranging from 5 to 30 nm. Grain boundaries are not observed. Selected area diffraction shows that the films are single-crystal-like, despite the porosity. All the films are smooth and crack-free. The precursors first decompose into an amorphous mixture. Heterogeneous nucleation occurs on the lattice-matched, single-crystal substrate surface. The epitaxial films grow upward and consume the amorphous regions. The crystallization temperature of LaAlO3 is lower for thin films than for bulk samples due to nucleation on the substrate. The crystallization of LaAlO3 does not exhibit linear growth kinetics. The Johnson–Mehl–Avrami exponent of growth is between 1.4 and 1.5. This deviation from the linear growth model (n = 1) can be attributed to continuous nucleation on the substrate/film interface.