A novel mosaic-like structure in SrTiO₃ thin films on a Pt(001) surface revealed by transmission electron microscopy

Abstract

A novel mosaic-like structure in SrTiO3 thin films was discovered and characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The films were deposited on a (001) oriented Pt surface. The orientation relationship between SrTiO3 film and Pt substrate was determined, and four types of growth modes were revealed. These four growth modes formed four types of domains, respectively, and these domains and Pt formed peculiarly ordered interfacial structures, i.e., near coincidence site lattices. Antiphase boundaries between two adjacent domains were also observed by high-resolution imaging.