LaB6 thin films were deposited at a temperature of 500 °C under vacuum or Ar atmosphere by the pulsed laser deposition technique on (100) Si substrates using a KrF laser. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction investigations found that films were nanocrystalline, with grain size dimensions from 86 to 102 nm and exhibited microstrain values around 1.1%. Simulations of the x-ray reflectivity curves acquired from the deposited films showed that films had a density around 4.55 g/cm3, and were very smooth, with a surface roughness root-mean-square of 1.5 nm, which was also confirmed by scanning electron and atomic force microscopy measurements. All films were covered by a ∼2 nm thick contamination layer that formed when samples were exposed to the ambient. Auger electron spectroscopy investigations found very low oxygen impurity levels below 1.5 at. % once the contamination surface layer was removed by Ar ion sputtering. Four point probe measurements showed that films were conductive, with a resistivity value around 200 μΩ cm for those deposited under Ar atmosphere and slightly higher for those deposited under vacuum. Nanoindentation and scratch investigations showed that films were rather hard, H ∼ 16 GPa, E ∼ 165 GPa, and adherent to the substrate. Thermionic emission measurements indicated a work function value of 2.66 eV, very similar to other reported values for LaB6.
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September 2016
Research Article|
August 15 2016
Characteristics of LaB6 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition
Valentin Craciun;
Valentin Craciun
National Institute for Lasers, Plasma, and Radiation Physics
, Magurele 077125, Romania
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Daniel Cristea;
Daniel Cristea
Materials Science Department,
Transilvania University of Brasov
, Brasov 500036, Romania
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Gabriel Socol;
Gabriel Socol
National Institute for Lasers, Plasma, and Radiation Physics
, Magurele 077125, Romania
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Eric Lambers;
Eric Lambers
Major Analytical Instrumentation Center (MAIC),
University of Florida
, Gainesville, Florida 32611
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Roxana Trusca;
Roxana Trusca
Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Material Science, Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials,
University Politehnica of Bucharest
, Bucharest 011061, 060042, Romania
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Steven Fairchild;
Steven Fairchild
Air Force Research Laboratory
, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate (AFRL/RXA) Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433-7707
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Tyson Back;
Tyson Back
Air Force Research Laboratory
, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate (AFRL/RXA) Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433-7707 and Energy and Environmental Engineering Division, University of Dayton Research Institute
, Dayton, Ohio 45469-0170
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Greggory Gruen;
Greggory Gruen
Air Force Research Laboratory
, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate (AFRL/RXA) Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433-7707 and Energy and Environmental Engineering Division, University of Dayton Research Institute
, Dayton, Ohio 45469-0170
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Doina Craciun
Doina Craciun
a)
National Institute for Lasers, Plasma, and Radiation Physics
, Magurele 077125, Romania
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a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; electronic mail: doina.craciun@inflpr.ro
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 34, 051509 (2016)
Article history
Received:
March 05 2016
Accepted:
July 27 2016
Citation
Valentin Craciun, Daniel Cristea, Gabriel Socol, Eric Lambers, Roxana Trusca, Steven Fairchild, Tyson Back, Greggory Gruen, Doina Craciun; Characteristics of LaB6 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 1 September 2016; 34 (5): 051509. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4960647
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