Epitaxial growth of mixed conducting layered Ruddlesden-Popper La _n+1Ni_nO_3n+1 (n = 1, 2 and 3) phases by pulsed laser deposition

Layered Ruddlesden-Popper phases of composition La_n+1Ni _nO_3n+1 (n = 1, 2 and 3) have been epitaxially grown on SrTiO₃ (0 0 1) or NdGaO₃ (1 1 0) single crystal substrates using the pulsed laser deposition technique. X-ray diffraction analyses (θ/2θ, rocking curves, and φ-scans) and atomic force microscopy confirms the high-quality growth of the series of films with low surface roughness values (less than 1 nm). In particular, epitaxial growth of the higher order phases (n = 2 and 3) of lanthanum nickelate have been demonstrated for the first time.