High-quality langasite films grown by liquid phase epitaxy

Abstract Single-crystalline La 3 Ga 5 SiO 14 (LGS) films could be grown by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) for the first time. These films were obtained on X - and Y -oriented LGS substrates (homoepitaxy) from a PbO-based flux, and were characterized by Nomarski microscopy, AFM, SEM/EDX and XRD. Best results were obtained for Y -oriented films, with macrosteps propagating over macrosopic dimensions (>1×1 cm 2 ). Very flat areas with height variations within 1.4 nm over 8 μm lateral distance were measured by AFM. These films have a thickness of a few micrometer, are crack-free due to perfect lattice match, and no solvent inclusions or secondary phases were found.