Combinatorial Fabrications and Electronic-state Evaluations of Functional Complex Metal Oxides

We have developed a continuous composition spread-pulsed laser deposition (CCS-PLD) system of scanning laser for exploring new functional complex metal oxides. Our new CCS-PLD system is based on a precisely controlled synchronization between the laser firing, target exchange, linear mask motion and mirror swinging, and provides more flexibility and control than earlier PLD-based approaches. Most importantly, the deposition energetics and the film thickness are kept constant across the entire composition range by using scanning laser. In this study, we fabricated binary composition-spread films composed of LaNiO3 and LaMnO3. Synchrotron radiation-photoemission spectroscopy of LaNiO3-LaMnO3 composition spread films was carried out to evaluate the valence band electronic structures. Here we report on the high-throughput fabrications and evaluations using the combination of composition spread thin film growth techniques and synchrotron radiation-photoelectron spectroscopy.