Plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy of high quality In2O3(001) thin films on Y-stabilized ZrO2(001) using In as an auto surfactant

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The surface roughness of In2O3(001) films is a roadblock to potential semiconductor applications of this material. Using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy we found that In2O3(001) films grow rough by the formation of {111} facets and In2O3(111) films grow smooth without facetting due to the conventionally used (oxygen-rich) conditions. This behavior indicates that the (111) surface is thermodynamically prefered over the (001) surface. We demonstrate that under indium-rich growth conditions these thermodynamics are changed allowing In2O3(001) films to grow smoothly without facetting. Surface indium plays a key role by acting as an auto surfactant that lowers the surface free energy difference between the (001) and the (111) surface.