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Heteroepitaxy of distorted rutile-structure WO2 and NbO2 thin films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2013

Franklin J. Wong  and
Shriram Ramanathan
Franklin J. Wong*
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Shriram Ramanathan
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: fwong@seas.harvard.edu
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Abstract

We present an experimental study on the epitaxy and orientational relationships of WO2 and NbO2 films on (0001) Al2O3, (111) MgAl2O4, and (111) MgO substrates, as well as WO2 on (111) SrTiO3. The higher symmetry of the substrate planes compared to the film planes leads to the formation of epitaxial structural variants, and they are related by the surface rotational symmetry elements of the substrates. WO2 and NbO2 crystallize in distorted versions of the rutile structure, and we discuss our findings in context of the rutile unit cell. Our results are applicable to other compounds that occur in (distorted) rutile structures. For the case of NbO2 thin films, we also demonstrate that they can be grown epitaxially on (10$\bar 1$2) and (10$\bar 1$0) Al2O3, lower symmetry surfaces; in these cases, surface symmetry does not induce the formation of epitaxial rotational variants, though domains related by glide symmetry are possible.

Keywords

crystallographic structureepitaxyoxide
Type
Invited Feature Paper
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 28 , Issue 18 , 28 September 2013 , pp. 2555 - 2563
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

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