Structural analysis of thin epitaxial Y₂O₃ films on sapphire, S. E. Webster, R. Kumaran, S. Penson, T. Tiedje, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 28, C3A20 (2010)

High structural quality yttrium oxide films have been grown on RR-plane sapphire by molecular beam epitaxy. X-ray diffraction measurements showed clear pendellosung fringes and sharp peaks. X-ray measurements indicate that the films grow nearly perfectly up to a critical thickness with x-ray peak widths as low as 7 arc sec. This critical thickness increases with decreasing growth rate up to 7 nm at 10 nm/h. The optimal growth temperature was found to be 800  C. Evidence of short range (<10 nm)( <10 nm) surface diffusion is presented.