Relationship between orientation of CeO2 films and surface morphology

Pure c-axis orientation CeO2 films were deposited on YSZsingle crystal substrates_ by pulse laser deposition (PLD) in oxygen. The optimum epitaxial growth temperature for a high level of c-axis orientation is 7900 C, and it is related to the morphology of CeO2 grains. The more circular the shape of the grains is, the better the caxis orientation and the smoothness of CeO2 film surface are. This correlation appears to be an intrinsic feature of CeO2 growth, independent of the type of substrate or the deposition method. Also it was found that the topography of the film surface grown by PLD reflects the morphology.