Apparatus and method for the growth of epitaxial complex oxides on native amorphous SiO₂ surface of (001) oriented single crystal silicon

The design, fabrication, and performance of an apparatus for the deposition of complex oxides with highly uniform thicknesses at controllable deposition rates over large area, even on the native amorphous SiO₂ layer of (001) oriented single crystal Si, are described. The apparatus makes use of the lateral port of a spherical chamber. The port is maintained at uniform temperature, and it houses a substrate heater. The deposition process is controlled by varying different parameters such as target-to-substrate distance, sputtering power, sputtering gas atmosphere, substrate temperature, and pulsed plasma growth. The system has been tested by growing a series of La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ thin films on Si. The systematic strain relaxation and thus the tunable magnetic properties along with the presence of high-quality surface morphology of the films indicate that the designed system could be used to fabricate different components of oxide electronics-based devices over larger area.