Fabrication of La2Ti2O7thin films by a sol-gel technique

Abstract
Sol-gel thin films of La2Ti2O17 were deposited on fused silica and Si( 100) substrates by a spin-coating process. The La2Ti2O17 precursor solution for the spin-coating was prepared from lanthanum acetylacetonate and titanium iso-propoxide dissolved in 2-methoxyethanol. Crystalline and crack-free films of ∼ 0.3 μm thickness were deposited on the above sulastrates using a single coating and followed by annealing at a temperature of 800 "C. Microstructural studies revealed that these films contained extremely fine grains of ∼ 0.1 μm. Thin film X-ray diffraction patterns indicated the formation of grain oriented films along [100] direction on these substrates.