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Crystal orientation control during copper nitride (Cu3N) epitaxial growth was achieved using reactive DC magnetron sputtering. Both the (100)-orientation and (111)-orientation were observed readily from X-ray diffraction measurements for Cu3N thin films grown on single-crystal MgO(100), MgO(111), SrTiO3(100), and sapphire(0001) substrates. The Cu3N(111) surface energy is greater than that of Cu3N(100), suggesting that the Cu3N(111) orientation has a lower formation probability than the Cu3N(100) orientation. To control the influence of surface energy, thin film growth parameters related to the thermodynamics and kinetics of epitaxial thin film growth were tuned. Growth of single (111)-oriented Cu3N epitaxial thin films, which has a higher surface energy orientation, was achieved on MgO(111) substrates. Optical band gaps of the single (111)-oriented Cu3N epitaxial thin film were 1.80 eV for direct transition and 0.82 eV for indirect transition, indicating formation of a reasonable electronic structure in single (111)-oriented Cu3N epitaxial thin films with higher surface energy.

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  This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Zainab Fatima, Isao Ohkubo, Satoshi Ishii, Takahiro Nagata, Takashi Aizawa, Takao Mori; Overcoming surface energy to control Cu3N epitaxial growth. J. Chem. Phys. 21 December 2025; 163 (23): 234712 and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0300710.

Keyword: Thin films, Epitaxial growth, Surface energy, Transition metal nitrides

Date published: 2025-12-21

Publisher: AIP Publishing

Journal:

• The Journal of Chemical Physics (ISSN: 00219606) vol. 163 issue. 23 234712

Funding:

• JSPS-KAKENHI 23H00263
• JST-Mirai Program JPMJMI19A1

Manuscript type: Author's version (Accepted manuscript)

MDR DOI: https://doi.org/10.48505/nims.6044

First published URL: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0300710

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Updated at: 2025-12-22 09:40:07 +0900

Published on MDR: 2025-12-22 12:21:51 +0900