Interface engineering for lattice-matched epitaxy of ZnO on (La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O3(111) substrate -: art. no. 202107

ZnO/(La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O-3(LSAT) heterointerface is engineered to control the crystallographic orientation of ZnO films grown by plasmas-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Lattice-matched in-plane alignment of [11 (2) over bar0](ZnO)parallel to[11 (2) over bar](LSAT) has been realized using Mg modification of the substrate surface, which is confirmed with in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction observation, and ex situ characterization of x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The low-temperature deposition and high-temperature treatment of the Mg layer on the oxygen-terminated LSAT(111) surface results in selective nucleation of a MgO interface layer which serves as a template for single-domain epitaxy of ZnO. Oxygen-polar ZnO film with an atomically smooth surface has been obtained, which is favorable for metal-ZnO Schottky contact with high barrier height. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.