Formation and structural characterization of cobalt titanate thin films

This research successfully produces high quality cobalt titanate (CoTiO₃) thin films, a high-k material for gate dielectrics, on SiO₂/Si(100) substrates via a spin-coating method with a sol-like precursor solution. This study prepares the precursor solution by reactions of cobalt acetate and titanium isopropoxide in 2-methoxyethanol. The current work obtains CoTiO₃ thin films after spin coating followed by post-treatment with air under 550∼650 °C. A scanning electron microscope, determines film thickness and morphology and X-ray diffraction identifies material structures. This study uses X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to analyze both elemental compositions and chemical bonding characters of the thin films. This work also investigates reaction pathways.