Direct Synthesis of Metastable lambda-Phase Ti3O5 Films on LaAIO(3) (110) Substrates at High Temperatures

High-quality metastable lambda-phase trititanium pentoxide (lambda-Ti3O5) films were grown via pulsed-laser deposition at a very high growth temperature. The lambda-Ti3O5 was directly formed on the substrate surface without any detectable transient layers. The obtained monoclinic lambda-Ti3O5 films contained almost single domains, in which the relative fraction of 180 degrees rotational domains was below 1% on pseudocubic LaAlO3 substrates. The successful synthesis of metastable lambda-Ti3O5 epitaxial films enables the utilization of their rich functionalities.