Epitaxial growth of platinum thin films on (100) MgO by pulsed laser deposition

Experimental results on the epitaxial growth of platinum thin films on (100) MgO single crystals are reported. Epitaxial growth of (111)- or (200)-oriented platinum films was observed on (100) MgO substrates, depending on the experimental conditions such as substrate temperature, oxygen partial pressure and laser fluence. Platinum films with a dominant orientation of (200) grew at substrate temperatures higher than about 300 °C, in oxygen at pressures higher than 10 -3 Torr and at a laser fluence higher than 1.4 J cm -2 . Preliminary experiments on the deposition of YBa 2 Cu 3 O x on platinum/MgO were also carried out.