Nanofabrication of doped, complex oxides

Complex oxides have many promising attributes, including wide band gaps for high temperature semiconductors, ion conducting electrolytes in fuel cells, ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism. Bulk and thin film oxides can be readily manufactured and tested however these physically hard and chemically inert materials cannot be nanofabricated by direct application of conventional methods. In order to study these materials at the nanoscale there must first be a simple and effective means to achieve the desired structures. Here we discuss the use of pulsed laser deposition at room temperature onto electron beam lithography defined templates of poly methyl methacrylate photoresist. Following a resist liftoff in organic solvents, a heat treatment was used to crystallize the nanostructures. The morphology of these structures was studied using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Crystallinity and composition as determined by x ray diffraction and photo-electron spectroscopy respectively is reported for thin film analogues of the nanostructured oxide. The oxide studied in this report is Nb doped SrTiO3, which has been investigated for use as a high temperature thermoelectric material; however the approach used is not materials-dependent.