Rare earth oxide films: their preparation and characterization

The paper summarises the results of our investigations dealing with preparation of rare earth oxide films and examinations of their physical properties. Different deposition methods have been applied for fabrication of these films and rare-earth-oxide-based thin film coatings. Main results concerning film microstructure and optical properties in the wavelength range from the UV up to the IR are presented. Electrical and dielectric studies have been carried out in the time domain and in the frequency domain (from very low frequencies up to radio frequencies) for selected rare earth oxides. MIM sandwich-type structures have been fabricated for this aim. Trapping levels in these oxides have been investigated. The complex impedance diagnostics was applied to analysis of the volume of R2O3 film and interfacial properties (metal/insulator barriers) of M/R2O3/M thin film structures.