Controlling the texture of CeO2 films by room temperature RF magnetron sputtering

Room temperature deposited and textured CeO2 films have been successfully grown on Si(100) substrate by RF magnetron sputtering. The crystallinity and texturing of the CeO2 films were measured by XRD. The XRD analysis showed that CeO2 films deposited on various substrates showed (200) texture, rather than the usual (111) orientation, when the metal target and substrate had an incident angle of 50–55°, and that this texture has good thermal stability for successive film deposition or heat treatment. Furthermore, Ar/O2 ratio during deposition has an influence on texturing process of as-deposited CeO2 films. It was concluded that incident angle geometry of sputtering could result in good (200) textured CeO2 films, when the metal target was sputtered.