Department of Thin Oxide Films

The main research activities of the Department are growth and characterization of thin films and oxide based heterostructures. Liquid source delivery (liquid injection) and standard "thermal evaporation" metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) techniques are employed for the preparation of the films. Various type of oxide films - superconducting (YBa₂Cu₃O₇), insulating (CeO₂, SrTiO₃, La₂O₃, Gd₂O₃), magnetic (La_1-xMnO₃, La_1-xSr_xMnO₃), conducting transition metal oxide films (RuO₂, SrRuO₃, LaSrCoO₃) as well as conducting Ru and TaN films were already prepared by this technique in the Department. Structural characterization of the films is carried out by means of X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Electrical properties of conducting films are studied in temperature range from liquid helium up to room temperature in magnetic fields 0 - 0.5 Tesla. Dielectric properties of thin insulating films are studied by means of capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics. Recent activities of the Department are focused on development of insulating and conducting oxide films for integration of high permittivity dielectric oxide films with silicon CMOS technology.