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

Abstract Room temperature deposited and textured CeO 2 films have been successfully grown on Si(100) substrate by RF magnetron sputtering. The crystallinity and texturing of the CeO 2 films were measured by XRD. The XRD analysis showed that CeO 2 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/O 2 ratio during deposition has an influence on texturing process of as-deposited CeO 2 films. It was concluded that incident angle geometry of sputtering could result in good (200) textured CeO 2 films, when the metal target was sputtered.