Epitaxial growth and electrical transport properties of Cr{sub 2}GeC thin films

Journal Article · Mon Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVB.84.075424· OSTI ID:21596852

Eklund, Per ^[1]; Bugnet, Matthieu; Mauchamp, Vincent; Dubois, Sylvain; Tromas, Christophe; Jaouen, Michel; Cabioc'h, Thierry ^[1]; Jensen, Jens ^[2]; Piraux, Luc; Gence, Loiek ^[3]

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1. Institut Pprime, UPR 3346, Universite de Poitiers, SP2MI-Boulevard 3, Teleport 2-BP 30179, 86962 Futuroscope Chasseneuil Cedex (France)
2. Thin Film Physics Division, Linkoeping University, IFM, 581 83 Linkoeping (Sweden)
3. Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences, Universite Catholique de Louvain, B-1348 Louvain la Neuve (Belgium)

Cr{sub 2}GeC thin films were grown by magnetron sputtering from elemental targets. Phase-pure Cr{sub 2}GeC was grown directly onto Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(0001) at temperatures of 700-800 deg. C. These films have an epitaxial component with the well-known epitaxial relationship Cr{sub 2}GeC(0001)//Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(0001) and Cr{sub 2}GeC(1120)//Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(1100) or Cr{sub 2}GeC(1120)//Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(1210). There is also a large secondary grain population with (1013) orientation. Deposition onto Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(0001) with a TiN(111) seed layer and onto MgO(111) yielded growth of globally epitaxial Cr{sub 2}GeC(0001) with a virtually negligible (1013) contribution. In contrast to the films deposited at 700-800 deg. C, the ones grown at 500-600 deg. C are polycrystalline Cr{sub 2}GeC with (1010)-dominated orientation; they also exhibit surface segregations of Ge as a consequence of fast Ge diffusion rates along the basal planes. The room-temperature resistivity of our samples is 53-66 {mu}{Omega}cm. Temperature-dependent resistivity measurements from 15-295 K show that electron-phonon coupling is important and likely anisotropic, which emphasizes that the electrical transport properties cannot be understood in terms of ground state electronic structure calculations only.

• OSTI ID: 21596852
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Journal Name: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 84; ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHROMIUM COMPOUNDS
COUPLING
CRYSTAL GROWTH METHODS
DIFFUSION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTRON-PHONON COUPLING
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
ENERGY LEVELS
EPITAXY
FILMS
GERMANIUM COMPOUNDS
GROUND STATES
LAYERS
MAGNESIUM COMPOUNDS
MAGNESIUM OXIDES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SEGREGATION
SURFACES
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TEMPERATURE RANGE
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
THIN FILMS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS