Sub-monolayer nucleation and growth of complex oxide heterostructures at high supersaturation and rapid flux modulation

摘要

We report on the non-trivial nanoscale kinetics of the deposition of novelcomplex oxide heterostructures composed of a unit-cell thick correlated metalLaNiO3 and dielectric LaAlO3. The multilayers demonstrate exceptionally goodcrystallinity and surface morphology maintained over the large number oflayers, as confirmed by AFM, RHEED, and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Toelucidate the physics behind the growth, the temperature of the substrate andthe deposition rate were varied over a wide range and the results were treatedin the framework of a two-layer model. These results are of fundamentalimportance for synthesis of new phases of complex oxide heterostructures.