Pulsed laser deposition of oriented V2O5-thin films

We have found that by varying only the substrate temperature and oxygen pre ssure five different crystallographic orientations of V2O5 thin films can b e grown, ranging from amorphous to highly textured crystalline. Dense, phas e-pure V2O5 thin films were grown on SnO2/glass substrates and amorphous qu artz substrates by pulsed laser deposition over a wide range of temperature s and oxygen pressures. The films' microstructure, crystallinity, and textu ring were characterized by electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and Rama n spectroscopy. Temperature and oxygen pressure appeared to play more signi ficant roles in the resulting crystallographic texture than did the choice of substrate. A growth map summarizes the results and delineates the temper ature and O-2 pressure window for growing dense, uniform, phase-pure V2O5 f ilms.