Preferential growth orientations of CuCrO₂ films grown by pulsed laser deposition

We reported the investigation of the preferential growth orientations of CuCrO₂ films on different substrates of (0001) Al₂O ₃, (100) YSZ, and (100) SrTiO₃ grown by pulsed laser deposition. The epitaxial thin films were grown at 700 °C with the oxygen pressure of 10 mTorr. The c-axis preferred orientation of the CuCrO₂ films was observed on (000l) Al₂O₃ and (100) YSZ substrate. However, the CuCrO₂ films on the (100) SrTiO₃ substrates were oriented perpendicular to (01-15). The six-fold and twelve-fold rotational symmetry in pole figure from (01-12) of CuCrO₂ films were appeared at χ = 73°using (0001) Al₂O₃ and (100) YSZ, respectively. The four-fold rotational symmetry points at χ = 53°were observed from the (0006) plane of CuCrO₂ on (100) SrTiO₃ substrate. The preferential growth orientation and epitaxial relationship of CuCrO₂ films on the different substrates were explained by the lattice mismatch, surface energy, and the surface arrangement of the cation and anion.