Heteroepitaxial growth of a wide-gap p-type semiconductor, LaCuOS

High-quality epitaxial films of LaCuOS, a wide-gap p-type semiconductor, are grown on yittria-stabilized-zirconia (001) or MgO (001) single-crystal substrates by a unique method. Postannealing of a bilayer film composed of an extremely thin metallic copper layer and an amorphous LaCuOS layer at 1000 degreesC results in an epitaxially grown LaCuOS thin film. This thin copper layer with high orientation, which likely acts as an epitaxial initiator, is essential for epitaxial growth. The resulting epitaxial films exhibit relatively intense ultraviolet emission associated with excitons at room temperature, confirming the high crystal quality of the films. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.