X-ray study of structural domains in the near-surface region of SrTiO3-substrates with Y0.6Pr0.4Ba2Cu3O7$ / La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 superlattices grown on top

TL;DR

This study uses synchrotron x-ray techniques to examine structural domain formation in SrTiO3 substrates with superlattices, revealing surface-specific transitions and facet development that influence the multilayer properties.

Contribution

It provides new insights into surface-specific structural transitions and facet formation in SrTiO3 substrates with grown superlattices, highlighting their mutual interaction.

Findings

Surface regions transition at higher temperatures than bulk.

Pronounced surface facets develop near the tetragonal-orthorhombic transition.

Structural changes occur below 30K affecting c-axis parameters.

Abstract

We investigated with synchrotron x-ray diffraction and reflectometry the formation of structural domains in the near-surface region of single crystalline SrTiO3 (001) substrates with Y0.6Pr0.4Ba2Cu3O7 / La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 superlattices grown on top. We find that the antiferrodistortive cubic-to-tetragonal transition, which occurs at T_STO = 104K in the bulk and at a considerably higher temperature of at least 120K in the surface region of SrTiO3, has only a weak influence on the domain formation. The strongest changes occur instead in the vicinitiy of the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic transition in SrTiO3 around 65K, where pronounced surface facets develop that reach deep (at least several micrometers) into the SrTiO3 substrate. These micrometer-sized facets are anisotropic and tilted with respect to one another by up to 0.5deg along the shorter direction. Finally, we find that a third structural transition below 30K gives rise to significant changes in the spread of the c-axis parameters. Overall, our data provide evidence for a strong mutual interaction between the stuctural properties of the SrTiO3 surface and the multilayer grown on top.