Growth and characterization of epitaxial thin films of conductive ferromagnetic oxide SrRuO3

We have grown epitaxial thin films of the conductive ferromagnetic oxide SrRuO3 on vicinal (001) SrTiO3 substrates with different miscut angles and miscut direction. Scanning tunneling microscopy and x-ray diffraction studies indicate that when the miscut angle of the substrate is small (alpha less than or equal to l degrees), the films grow by a combination of two-dimensional nucleation and step flow leading to a two domain in-plane texture. As the miscut angle of the substrate is increased, complete step flow growth occurs resulting in single domain thin films if the miscut direction is close to the [010] direction. When the miscut direction of the substrate is changed towards the in-plane [110] direction, two directional step flow growth occurs leading to two domain texture with both domains being present in equal volume fraction. Such differences in the growth mechanism and domain structure of the films lead to significant differences in their magnetization and magnetotransport behavior. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(98)31011-7].