Microstructure and strain relaxation of epitaxial PrScO3 thin films grown on (001) SrTiO3 substrates.

We have studied the microstructure and strain relaxation of epitaxial PrScO3 films grown on miscut (001) SrTiO3 substrates by transmission electron microscopy. PrScO3 films grown on highly miscut (>1°) SrTiO3 substrates are single domain films, fully strain relaxed via interfacial misfit dislocations, small angle tilt boundaries, and antiphase boundaries bounded by partial dislocation. In contrast, strain in PrScO3 films on low miscut (<0.2°) SrTiO3 substrates is relaxed by misfit dislocation as well as the formation of six different crystallographic domains. The formation of single domain PrScO3 films on high angle miscut substrates could be due to interfacial strain-energy minimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]