Epitaxial growth and properties of cubic Zn0.7Mg0.3O films on TiN-buffered Si(100) substrates by in situ pulsed laser deposition

A novel cubic Zn0.7Mg0.3O film on silicon substrate is conducted by KrF excimer pulsed-laser ablation system. By introducing a thin TiN buffer, layer-by-layer growth of cubic Zn0.7Mg0.3O film epilayer has been realized. The overall growth process was monitored in situ by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) method. It was found that the crystallinity and surface morphology of the Zn0.7Mg0.3O films were strongly affected by the TiN buffer layer. The Zn0.7Mg0.3O film obtained at an optimal buffer layer exhibited high quality and good surface. For the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure of Pt/Zn0.7Mg0.3O (200 nm)/TiN (20 rim)/Si (400 mu m) prepared at the optimal growth conditions achieved a very low leak current density of similar to 10(-6) A cm(-2) at an electric field of 9 x 10(5) V cm(-1) and the permittivity (epsilon(r)) of about 8.1, agreed well with that of acquired MgO film and MgO single crystal. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.