Structural characterization of La0.9Ba0.1MnO3/Y-ZrO2 film by X-ray diffraction

Abstract Perovskite manganite La 0.9 Ba 0.1 MnO 3 (LBMO) films were deposited on (0 0 1)-oriented single crystal yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrate by 90° off-axis radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The film thickness ranged from 10 nm to 100 nm. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction technique and high resolution X-ray diffraction were applied to characterize the structure of LBMO films. The LBMO film mainly consisted of (0 0 1)-orientated grain as well as weakly textured (1 1 0)-orientated grain. The results indicated that an amorphous layer with thickness of about 4 nm was formed at the LBMO/YSZ interface. The strain in LBMO film was small and averaged to be about –0.14%. The strain in the film was not lattice mismatch-induced strain but residual strain due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between film and substrate.