APL Materials (Aug 2015)

Strain accommodation through facet matching in La1.85Sr0.15CuO4/Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4 ramp-edge junctions

  • M. Hoek,
  • F. Coneri,
  • N. Poccia,
  • X. Renshaw Wang,
  • X. Ke,
  • G. Van Tendeloo,
  • H. Hilgenkamp

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4927796
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 8
pp. 086101 – 086101-7

Abstract

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Scanning nano-focused X-ray diffraction and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy are used to investigate the crystal structure of ramp-edge junctions between superconducting electron-doped Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4 and superconducting hole-doped La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 thin films, the latter being the top layer. On the ramp, a new growth mode of La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 with a 3.3° tilt of the c-axis is found. We explain the tilt by developing a strain accommodation model that relies on facet matching, dictated by the ramp angle, indicating that a coherent domain boundary is formed at the interface. The possible implications of this growth mode for the creation of artificial domains in morphotropic materials are discussed.