Nucleation and growth mechanisms of a,b-axis-oriented YBa2Cu3O7-δ films on LaAlO3

S. K. Streiffer, B. M. Lairson, E. M. Zielinski, J. C. Bravman

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18 Scopus citations

Abstract

The initial stages of deposition of a,b-axis-oriented YBa2Cu3O7-δ onto LaAlO3 substrates have been examined using transmission-electron microscopy. These films have their c axis parallel to the plane of the substrate throughout their thickness, including at the film-substrate interface: no initial layer with the c axis perpendicular to the plane of the substrate is observed. Nucleation of the c-parallel material is extremely dense, such that the triple perovskite layering along the c axis is sometimes disrupted, leading to structures containing two or four perovskite blocks instead of the usual three. By a film thickness of 8 nm the proper YBa2Cu3O7-δ structure has stabilized, although the domain size is still very small, on the order of four unit cells in the c^ direction, or 4.7 nm. Two ledge structures are observed in projection on the film surface: (100)/(001) faces and (110)/(013) faces.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)11431-11438
Number of pages8
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume47
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - 1993
Externally publishedYes

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