Epitaxial growth of anatase by reactive sputter deposition using water vapor as the oxidant

The growth of TiO2 films in the anatase crystal structure was investigated using reactive sputter deposition with H2O serving as the oxidizing species. With water vapor, the formation of phase-pure anatase TiO2 thin films via epitaxial stabilization on (001) LaAlO3 was achieved, although crystallinity was slightly inferior to that obtained when O-2 was employed. Films grown using water vapor exhibited a rougher surface morphology indicating a difference in growth mechanisms. At low H2O pressure, the formation of a TinO2n-1 Magneli phase was observed. When hydrogen was employed during growth, mixed phase films of rutile and anatase resulted. The development of crystallinity and phase as a function of deposition temperature and oxidant pressure are discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.