Atomic-scale visualization of initial growth of homoepitaxial SrTiO3 thin film on an atomically ordered substrate

TL;DR

This study uses atomic-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy to visualize the initial stages of homoepitaxial SrTiO3 film growth on an atomically ordered substrate, revealing atomic-scale coherence and structure transfer.

Contribution

It provides the first atomic-scale visualization of initial SrTiO3 homoepitaxial growth on an ordered substrate, demonstrating structure transfer and coherent epitaxy at the interface.

Findings

The () atomic structure is preserved on the film surface.

Atomic-scale coherent epitaxy occurs at the film/substrate interface.

Ordered substrates enable atom-by-atom oxide film fabrication.

Abstract

The initial homoepitaxial growth of SrTiO3 on a (\surd13\times\surd13) - R33.7{\deg}SrTiO3(001) substrate surface, which can be prepared under oxide growth conditions, is atomically resolved by scanning tunneling microscopy. The identical (\surd13\times\surd13) atomic structure is clearly visualized on the deposited SrTiO3 film surface as well as on the substrate. This result indicates the transfer of the topmost Ti-rich (\surd13\times\surd13) structure to the film surface and atomic-scale coherent epitaxy at the film/substrate interface. Such atomically ordered SrTiO3 substrates can be applied to the fabrication of atom-by-atom controlled oxide epitaxial films and heterostructures.