Growth of Magnesium Oxide Thin Films Using Molecular Beam Epitaxy
Pages 340-346

S. Rizwan Ali, S. Qaseem, S. Imran Ali and M. Naeem

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6000/1927-5129.2017.13.57

Published: 21 June 2017

Abstract: Ultra thin MgO films (1-2 nm) are grown on Si/SiO₂ substrates using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Different growth conditions such as substrate temperatures, annealing conditions and growth rates are tested in order to achieve optimum parameters for the smooth and uniform growth. The films were characterized ex-situ using atomic force microscopy and x ray diffractio. Our results demonstrate MBE growth of MgO films with an rms roughness better than 0.5 nm on Si/SiO₂ substrates. These results are important for the applications of MgO films as tunnel barriers in spintronic devices.

Keywords: Ultra thin films, MgO, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD).

Download Full Article