Epitaxial growth of Li4Ti5O12 thin films using RF magnetron sputtering

We fabricated Li4Ti5O12(111) epitaxial thin films on α-Al2O3(0001) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. Thin films of amorphous Li4Ti5O12 were deposited at room temperature, and then the films were annealed at high temperatures for the formation of epitaxial thin films. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of niobium (Nb) incorporation into Li4Ti5O12. The Nb-incorporated Li4Ti5O12 thin films showed an improvement in crystallinity with a narrower rocking curve full width at half-maximum of 0.36° for the Li4Ti5O12(111) peak. Further, the resistivity of the Nb-incorporated film dropped three orders of magnitude on the Nb incorporation.