Synthesis of Lanthanum Tungsten Oxynitride Perovskite Thin Films

Kevin R. Talley, John Mangum, Craig L. Perkins, Rachel Woods-Robinson, Apurva Mehta, Brian P. Gorman, Geoff L. Brennecka, Andriy Zakutayev

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Ternary metal-oxide material systems commonly crystallize in the perovskite crystal structure, which is utilized in numerous electronic applications. In contrast to oxides, there are no known nitride perovskites, likely due to the competition with oxidation, which makes the formation of pure nitride materials difficult and synthesis of oxynitride materials more common. While deposition of oxynitride perovskite thin films is important for many electronic applications, it is difficult to control oxygen and nitrogen stoichiometry. Lanthanum tungsten oxynitride (LaWN3−δOδ) thin films with varying La:W ratio are synthesized by combinatorial sputtering and characterized for their chemical composition, crystal structure, and microstructure. A three-step synthesis method, which involves co-sputtering, capping layer deposition, and rapid thermal annealing, is established for producing crystalline thin films while minimizing the oxygen content. Elemental depth profiling results show that the cation-stoichiometric films contain approximately one oxygen for every five nitrogen (δ = 0.5). Synchrotron-based diffraction indicates a tetragonal perovskite crystal structure. These results are discussed in terms of the perovskite tolerance factors, octahedral tilting, and bond valence. Overall, this synthesis and characterization is expected to pave the way toward future thin film property measurements of lanthanum tungsten oxynitrides and eventual synthesis of oxygen-free nitride perovskites.

Original languageAmerican English
Article number1900214
Number of pages7
JournalAdvanced Electronic Materials
Volume5
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5K00-71392

Keywords

  • LaWON
  • oxynitride
  • perovskites
  • sputtering
  • thin films

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