Solid Source Metal-Organic Molecular Beam Epitaxy of Epitaxial RuO2

TL;DR

This paper reports the successful growth of high-quality epitaxial RuO2 films using a novel solid-source metal-organic MBE technique, overcoming challenges related to Ru's low vapor pressure and oxidation potential.

Contribution

It introduces a new solid-source MOMBE method for synthesizing epitaxial RuO2 films, enabling controlled growth of complex oxides of difficult-to-evaporate metals.

Findings

Epitaxial RuO2 films achieved at 300°C with bulk-like resistivity

High-quality films confirmed by X-ray diffraction and TEM

Strain and substrate orientation influence film properties

Abstract

A seemingly simple oxide with a rutile structure, RuO2 has been shown to possess several intriguing properties ranging from strain-stabilized superconductivity to a strong catalytic activity. Much interest has arisen surrounding the controlled synthesis of RuO2 films but, unfortunately, utilizing atomically-controlled deposition techniques like molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) has been difficult due to the ultra-low vapor pressure and low oxidation potential of Ru. Here, we demonstrate the growth of epitaxial, single-crystalline RuO2 films on different substrate orientations using the novel solid-source metal-organic (MO) MBE. This approach circumvents these issues by supplying Ru using a pre-oxidized solid metal-organic precursor containing Ru. High-quality epitaxial RuO2 films with bulk-like room-temperature resistivity of 55 micro-ohm-cm were obtained at a substrate temperature as low as 300 C. By combining X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and electrical measurements, we discuss the effect of substrate temperature, orientation, film thickness, and strain on the structure and electrical properties of these films. Our results illustrating the use of novel solid-source MOMBE approach paves the way to the atomic-layer controlled synthesis of complex oxides of stubborn metals, which are not only difficult to evaporate but also hard to oxidize.