Epitaxial growth of Bi2Sr2-xLaxCu1O6+δ thin films on vicinal SrTiO3 substrates

We have studied the epitaxy of Bi2Sr2-xLaxCuO6+d (La-2201) superconducting thin films deposited by RF sputtering on vicinal SrTiO3 (STO) substrates, The surface of the single crystal substrate is cut at an angle of 6 degrees with respect to the (100) basal plane, being rotated around the [110] axis direction. Contrary to films deposited on untilted single crystal substrate, the AFM surface topographies of the La-2201 films deposited on the tilted substrates show elongated stripe-like shapes. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron diffraction show a film growth with very good crystallographic alignments very similar to what is observed on La-2201 single crystals. The temperature dependency of the a- and c-axis resistivities confirm the high epitaxial quality of the films, as evidenced by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and TEM studies. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.