MODELING OF THIN FILM GROWTH ON A TILTED MISCUT SUBSTRATE: STATISTICAL PROPERTIES AND THE OPTIMUM GROWTH CONDITIONS

Most studies of thin film growth simulations are performed on flat substrates. However, in reality, a substrate is usually miscut leading to a vicinal surface with a small tilt. The goal of this work is to study effects of an initial configuration of a miscut substrate on the grown film. The Das Sarma–Tamborenea model with modified diffusion rules is used for the simulations. The modification is done to allow variation in the surface diffusion length and mobility of adatoms. The results show that the optimum conditions that lead to step-flow growth are long diffusion length and small step height.

Epitaxy of PbTio3 on (100) SrTio3 and Vicinal (100) SrTio3 by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Epitaxial PbTiO3 films have been grown on (100) SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction analysis indicates pure c-axis oriented PbTiO3 films with a rocking curve FWHM of 0.25° for the 002 reflection. Thicker films (˜ 2000 Å) grown on 4° miscut SrTiO3 show mixed aaxis and c-axis PbTiO3 due to twinning along {1011} planes. The [100] axis of the a-axis domains are misoriented by 3.4° - 3.8° toward <001> substrate directions with respect to the substrate normal. In contrast to growth on well-oriented (100) SrTiO3 surfaces where the four equivalent tilts of the [100] axis of the a-axis domains are equally likely, on vicinal SrTiO3 the a-axis domains are preferentially oriented (˜ 90 vol. %) in an uphill direction with respect to the miscut substrate.