Growth of epitaxial films of sodium potassium tantalate and niobate on single-crystal lanthanum aluminate [100] substrates

Epitaxial films of sodium potassium tantalate (Na0.5K0.5TaO3, NKT) and sodium potassium niobate (Na0.5K0.5NbO3, NKN) were grown on single-crystal lanthanum aluminate (LAO) (100) (indexed as a pseudo-cubic unit cell) substrates via an all-alkoxide solution (methoxyethoxide complexes in 2-methoxyethanol) deposition route for the first time. X-ray diffraction studies indicated that the onset of crystallization in powders formed from hydrolyzed gel samples was 550 °C. 13C nuclear magnetic resonance studies of solutions of methoxyethoxide complexes indicated that mixed-metal species were formed, consistent with the low crystallization temperatures observed. Thermal gravimetric analysis with simultaneous mass spectrometry showed the facile loss of the ligand (methoxyethoxide) at temperatures below 400 °C. Crystalline films were obtained at temperatures as low as 650 °C when annealed in air. θ-2θ x-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the films possessed c-axis alignment in that only (h00) reflections were observed. Pole-figures about the NKT or NKN (220) reflection indicated a single in-plane, cube-on-cube epitaxy. The quality of the films was estimated via ω (out-of-plane) and φ (in-plane) scans and full-widths at half-maximum (FWHMs) were found to be reasonably narrow (∼1°), considering the lattice mismatch between the films and the substrate.