Optimal conditions for pulsed laser deposition of K0.3MoO3 thin films

The first thin-film growth of the “blue bronze”, oxide X0.3MoO3, well-known for its charge density wave (CDW) ground state, with X=Rb was realized a decade ago by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). However, the deposition of X=K blue bronze thin films was successfully realized only last year. The relevant parameters for successful PLD are the repetition rate, the fluence, the number of pulses, the distance between the target and the substrates, the substrate temperature and the oxygen pressure. Keeping all other parameters constant, we have varied the oxygen pressure between 0.01 mbar and 0.1 mbar and the substrate temperature between 375 °C and 450 °C with several attempts at 350 °C and 500 °C. Here we present the optimal conditions in p-T parameter space for the pulsed laser deposition of K0.3MoO3 films based on the characterization by several standard methods.