Orientation selective epitaxial growth of CeO2(100) and CeO2(110) layers on Si(100) substrates

It is found that epitaxial CeO2 layers with (100) or (110) orientation can be selectively grown on Si(100) substrates by controlling substrate bias in reactive dc magnetron sputtering. Adopting a two step growth method; ultrathin metallic Ce layer deposition at room temperature followed by a silicidation process at 800 °C, and subsequent reactive sputtering in an Ar/O2 mixture environment, the CeO2(100) layer is grown on practical Si(100) surfaces prepared by the usual wet cleaning method.