Solvothermal Epitaxy of an Anatase TiO2 Thin Film on SrTiO3(001) and the Effect of Precursor Composition on Its Growth

TiO2 has numerous applications and has been intensively studied. Single crystals of anatase TiO2 are almost only from minerals, while those of rutile can be synthesized artificially. Therefore, their properties were investigated using an epitaxial thin film. The major fabrication methods are gas-phase methods, such as pulsed laser deposition. Recently, a solvothermal method for the epitaxial growth of anatase TiO2 on LaAlO3(001) was reported. In this study, a solvothermal method was applied to SrTiO3(001), and epitaxial growth was reported. The film thickness and full width at half-maximum for the anatase (004) rocking curve were approximately 5 μm and 2.2°, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of the solution composition on growth, which could not be investigated in a previous report, has also been reported.