TEM study of coherently tilted YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin films on (305) SrTio3 substrates

Microstructural study has been carried out on the YBa2Cu3O7-delta (YBCO) thin films grown on (305) SrTiO3 (STO) substrates. The results show that the YBCO films are coherently tilted with the c-axis parallel to the [001] direction of STO. Small antidomains are nucleated at the initial growth stage. When the film thickness increases, antidomains disappear leading to the formation of single domain thin films. Some particles are observed above the defective substrate surface, but the film with the favorable orientation suppresses their further growth.