Optical properties of epitaxial BiFeO3 thin films grown on LaAlO3

Highly strained and nearly pseudomorphic BiFeO3 epitaxial films were deposited on LaAlO3 and TbScO3 substrates, respectively. The symmetry of the tetragonal-like BiFeO3 films is discussed based on polarisation dependent Raman measurements and on the comparison with Raman spectra measured for rhombohedral films deposited on TbScO3. The evaluation of ellipsometric spectra reveals that the films deposited on LaAlO3 are optically less dense and the features in complex dielectric function are blue-shifted by 0.3 eV as compared to the rhombohedral films. Optical bandgaps of 3.10 eV and 2.80 eV were determined for the films deposited on LaAlO3 and TbScO3, respectively. The shift in the optical bandgap and dielectric function is nearly preserved also for thicker films, which indicates that the compressive strain is retained even in films with thicknesses above 100 nm as was confirmed also by XRD investigations. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.