Microstructure of (1 1 0)-oriented epitaxial SrRuO₃ thin films grown on off-cut single crystal YSZ(1 0 0) substrates

The microstructure of (1 1 0)^pc-oriented epitaxial SrRuO ₃ (SRO) thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition on (1 0 0)YSZ (YSZ: yttria-stabilized zirconia) single crystal substrates with a miscut angle of 5° has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The films grow epitaxially with their pseudocubic (1 1 0) plane parallel to the (1 0 0) surface of the YSZ single crystal substrate, and with an in-plane orientation relationship of [1̄1 1]_SRO//[0 1 1]_YSZ. Cross-sectional TEM investigations show that the films have a rough, facetted surface. Generally, four different azimuthal domains are present in (1 1 0)SRO films on (1 0 0)YSZ. Their number can be significantly reduced using annealed offcut YSZ substrates before SRO deposition, and this reduction effect is shown to be much stronger on [0 1 1]-miscut (1 0 0)YSZ than on [0 0 1]-miscut ones. Size and morphology of the azimuthal pseudocubic domains and their domain boundaries, as well as of anti-phase domains and their domain boundaries are studied by plan-view and cross-section TEM.