DEPOSITION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CRYSTALLINE CONDUCTIVE RUO2 THIN-FILMS

Highly conductive metal-oxide RuO2 thin films have been successfully grown on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Epitaxial growth of RuO2 thin films on YSZ and the atomically sharp interface between the RuO2 and the YSZ substrate are clearly evident from cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, A diagonal-type epitaxy of RuO2 on YSZ is confirmed from x-ray diffraction measurements. The crystalline RuO2 thin films, deposited at temperatures in the range of 500 degrees C to 700 degrees C, have a room-temperature resistivity of 35 +/- 2 mu Omega-cm, and the residual resistance ratio (R(300) (K)/R(4.2) (K)) is around 5 for the crystalline RuO2 thin films.