Characterization of gadolinium and lanthanum oxide films on Si (100)

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy, were used to study gadolinium and lanthanum oxide films deposited on Si (100) substrates using electron-beam evaporation from pressed-powder targets. As-deposited films consist of a crystalline oxide layer and an amorphous interfacial layer. A complicated distinct multilayer structure consisting of oxide layers, silicate layers, and SiO2-rich layers in thick (∼30 nm) annealed films has been observed for both gadolinium and lanthanum films. For thinner annealed films (∼8 nm), there is no longer a crystalline oxide layer but an amorphous gadolinium or lanthanum silicate layer and an interfacial SiO2-rich layer. The formation of the lanthanum silicate by annealing lanthanum oxide is found to be thermodynamically more favorable than the formation of gadolinium silicate.