M.M. VieiraOliveira, J. C.Shaula, A. L.Trindade, B.Cavaleiro, A.2026-06-162026-06-162014-05M.M. Vieira, J.C. Oliveira, A.L. Shaula, B. Trindade, A. Cavaleiro, Structure and ionic conductivity of reactively sputtered apatite-type lanthanum silicate thin films, Surface and Coatings Technology, Volume 247, 2014, Pages 14-19, ISSN 0257-8972, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2014.02.0640257-8972http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/16422La–Si–O thin films with Si/(La + Si) atomic ratios ranging from 0.36 to 0.43 were produced by magnetron sputtering in a reactive Ar/O discharge gas. The as-deposited films have large X-ray diffraction peak characteristic of quasi-amorphousmaterials and oxygen contents from29 to 35 at.%. The Apatite-type lanthanumsilicate phase was formed in all the as-deposited films upon annealing at 900 °C for 1 h. The lanthanumsilicate films obtained by annealing the as-deposited filmswith lower Si/(La+Si) atomic ratios have a preferential orientationwith the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate while low intensity diffraction peaks ascribed to La2Si2O7 phase were detected in the films deposited with higher Si content. The preferentially oriented films have higher activation energy and lower ionic conductivity as the ionic conductivity measurements were performed in the direction perpendicular to the c-axis. The highest ionic conductivity was obtained for the film deposited with a Si/(La + Si) atomic ratio of 0.42, with a value of 1.2 × 10−2 S·cm−1 at 750 °C.engLanthanum silicateApatite-typeThin filmsSOFCIonic conductivityjournal article10.1016/j.surfcoat.2014.02.064