The imperative need for highly performant and stablep-type transparent electrodes based on abundant metals is
stimulating
the research on perovskite oxide thin films. Moreover, exploring the
preparation of these materials with the use of cost-efficient and
scalable solution-based techniques is a promising approach to extract
their full potential. Herein, we present the design of a chemical
route, based on metal nitrate precursors, for the preparation of pure
phase La0.75Sr0.25CrO3(LSCO) thin
films to be used as ap-type transparent conductive
electrode. Different solution chemistries have been evaluated to ultimately
obtain dense, epitaxial, and almost relaxed LSCO films. Optical characterization
of the optimized LSCO films reveals promising high transparency with
∼67% transmittance while room temperature resistivity values
are 1.4 Ω·cm. It is suggested that the presence of structural
defects, i.e., antiphase boundaries and misfit dislocations, affects
the electrical behavior of LSCO films. Monochromated electron energy
loss spectroscopy allowed changes in the electronic structure in LSCO
films to be determined, revealing the creation of Cr4+and
unoccupied states at the O 2pupon Sr-doping. This
work offers a new venue to prepare and further investigate cost-effective
functional perovskite oxides with potential to be used asp-type transparent conducting electrodes and be easily integrated
in many oxide heterostructures.