Epitaxial growth of transparent <i>p</i>-type conducting CuGaO2 thin films on sapphire (001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition

Transparent p-type conducting CuGaO2 thin films were prepared on α-Al2O3 (001) single-crystal substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The films were grown epitaxially on the substrates in an as-deposited state. X-ray pole figure analysis revealed that the films were composed of two types of epitaxial grains, both with c axes oriented perpendicular to the surface and a axes rotated 60° with respect to each other around the c axis. Observation of the CuGaO2 thin films by atomic force microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy substantiated this conclusion. The films have high optical transparency (∼80%) in the visible region, and the energy gap of CuGaO2 for direct allowed transition was estimated to be 3.6 eV. p-type conductivity was confirmed by Seebeck and Hall measurements. The electrical conductivity, carrier (positive hole) density, and Hall mobility of the films at room temperature were 6.3×10−2 S cm−1, 1.7×1018 cm−3, and 0.23 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively.