Epitaxial growth of Ca-doped LaRhO₃ thin films by chemical solution deposition

LaRhO₃ is a typical 4d transition metal perovskite oxide with p-type semiconductor-like properties. Few reports have been carried out about the La-site doping effects on the properties and no investigations have been carried out about Ca doping effects on LaRhO₃ thin films. Here, La_1-xCa_xRhO₃ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) thin films were firstly deposited by chemical solution deposition. Epitaxial La_1-xCa_xRhO₃ thin films on single crystal SrTiO₃ (001) substrates with the epitaxial relationship of LaRhO₃(001)[110]||SrTiO₃(001)[110] have be successfully prepared. The solid solution limitation of Ca doping on La site is less than 0.3. The Ca doping effects on LRO thin film microstructures, electrical and optical properties were carefully investigated. With Ca doping, the lattice constant, the resistivity, and the optical gap were decreased. The results will provide a simple route to prepare La_1-xCa_xRhO₃ based thin films for potential applications as near infrared transparent conducting thin films.