Synthesis of YTaO4:Nb thin films by chemical solution deposition

A new chemical solution deposition method for the growth of YTa0.85Nb0.15O4 (YTNO) thin films using trifuoroacetate-based metal precursors is presented. Using this method, YTNO thin films and YTNO island nanostructures were grown on (111) Si and (100) SrTiO3 (STO) single crystalline substrates, respectively. The nature of the trifluoroacetate precursor solution and the decomposition of the precursor powder were investigated by FT-IR spectroscopy and TG-DTA analyses. The XRD investigations reveal the formation of YTNO with monoclinic M' and tetragonal T crystalline structures. The surface AFM investigations have shown that the morphology is strongly dependent on the substrate nature. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.