Fabrication of La1−xSrxGa1−yMgyO3−(x+y)/2 thin films by pulsed laser ablation

Sr- and Mg-doped lanthanum gallate, La1−xSrxGa1−yMgyO3−(x+y)/2 (LSGM), of various dopant concentrations were prepared by urea/nitrate solution combustion synthesis. X-ray diffraction patterns indicate that a pure primitive cubic phase is formed at 1773 K for the compositions La1−xSrxGa1−yMgyO3−(x+y)/2 (0.1≤x≤0.2, 0.1≤y≤0.2). Thin films of La1−xSrxGa1−yMgyO3−(x+y)/2 were fabricated on quartz and silicon substrates using pulsed-laser ablation technique. The as-deposited films were amorphous in nature, which on annealing at 973 K gave a single-phase cubic structure. As the quality of the film depends on the chemistry of the laser-induced plasma species, the in-situ determination of the plasma species identities and their relative abundance was carried out using mass spectrometry in-order to optimize the process parameters.