Extensive Series of Hexagonal and Orthorhombic RMnO₃ (R = Y, La, Sm, Tb, Yb, Lu) Thin Films by Atomic Layer Deposition

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) with subsequent annealing in N 2 gas flow was employed to fabricate an extensive series of both hexagonal and orthorhombic rare-earth manganate RMnO 3 thin films using R(thd) 3, Mn(thd) 3, and ozone as precursors. Excellent control of the R/Mn stoichiometry was achieved for all the rare-earth constituents studied at 275 °C. The formation of the metastable perovskites was elegantly enhanced through depositions on coherent perovskite substrates resulting in a complete series (from R = La to Lu) of single-phase RMnO 3 perovskites on LaAlO 3 substrates. The magnetic properties of the perovskite series exhibited expected antiferromagnetic behaviour at low temperatures (except for R = La which showed ferromagnetic interactions due to cation vacancies).