Epitaxial growth of yittria-stabilized zirconia oxide thin film on natively oxidized silicon wafer without an amorphous layer

By varying oxygen partial pressure during deposition, epitaxial yittria-sta bilized zirconia thin films were grown on natively oxidized silicon wafer b y the pulsed laser deposition technique. The commensurate crystalline inter face was attributed to the lower partial pressure at the initial deposition stage, where the amorphous interfacial oxide is eliminated by the metal Zr (or Y) ions reacting with native silicon oxide on the surface of the silic on substrate. The partial pressure effect on the origin of re-growth of amo rphous interfacial oxide is discussed. The results demonstrate that the com mensurate crystalline oxide can be obtained by an appropriate deposition pr ocess, which sheds light on the fabrication of high-quality crystalline thi n films on Si wafers to promote the application of silicon-based electronic technology.