Single oriented CeO 2 buffer layer d eposition on biaxially textured Ni - W substrate by RF magnetron sputtering

Considerable attention has been gained on the deposition of CeO2 thin films with (200) single orientation as hetero-epitaxial buffer layer on (200) oriented biaxially textured flexible Ni substrates, in the fabrication of superconductor and semiconducting epitaxial thin films for device applications. In this work we have deposited (200) oriented CeO2 thin films on biaxially textured Ni-W substrate in a single-step process by RF magnetron sputtering, using CeO2 target. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that for the CeO2 thin film deposited at RF sputtering power below 200 W and for the substrate temperature of 700 o C, the film assumes single (200) orientation. For the substrate temperature below 700 o C and RF sputtering powers above 200 W the film shows polycrystalline nature with (111) and (200) orientations. The Raman spectrum of single oriented (200) CeO2 thin film shows only one sharp peak at about 464 cm -1 corresponds to the presence of F2g mode of CeO2. The ellipsometry studies reveal the value refractive index and optical band gap of single oriented film as 2.52 and 3.41 eV, respectively. Copyright © 2015 VBRI Press.