Suppression of the spiral-growth mechanism in epitaxial YBa sub 2 Cu sub 3 O sub 7 minus x films grown on miscut substrates

Journal Article · Mon Aug 17 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · Applied Physics Letters; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.107766· OSTI ID:7203060

Lowndes, D H ^[1]; Zheng, X; Zhu, S ^[2]; Budai, J D ^[3]; Warmack, R J ^[4]

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1. Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6056 (United States)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 (United States)
3. Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6030 (United States)
4. Health and Safety Research Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6123 (United States)

The growth mechanism and surface microstructures of epitaxial YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}{ital x}} films are extremely sensitive to substrate miscut angle. The screw dislocation-mediated growth that is so prominent in YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}{ital x}} films grown on well-aligned (001) substrates can be completely eliminated by growing YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}{ital x}} on a substrate that is miscut only 2{degree}--3{degree} away from (001). Films grown on miscut near-(001) LaAlO{sub 3} and SrTiO{sub 3} substrates consist of overlapping tilted platelets, one {ital c}-axis unit cell thick, that are epitaxially aligned with the underlying crystal lattice. This morphology, and the absence of screw-growth features, persists even in relatively thick ({similar to}200 nm) films. The dominance of miscut-aligned growth is explained by the large number of surface steps that act as both nucleation and rapid-growth sites on a miscut surface.

• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 7203060
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters; (United States), Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters; (United States) Vol. 61:7; ISSN APPLA; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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