X-ray characterization of a SrTiO3 bicrystal interface

We studied a SrTiO3 bicrystal with X-ray diffraction. It was prepared by fusing two iron doped crystals, with 18.4 degrees miscut from the (001) direction along the [100] azimuth, at elevated pressure and temperature. This miscut corresponds to a (103) orientation of the interface and surface. One of the crystals has been polished to a thickness of 10 mu m to make the interface accessible to the synchrotron X-ray beams. Crystal truncation rod scattering was used to study the structure of the interface. Our results show a very narrow interface region with a thickness of about 11 Angstrom and a significantly changed atomic structure.