The evolution of octahedral rotations of orthorhombic LaVO3 in superlattices with cubic SrVO3

• Epitaxial superlattices of orthorhombic LaVO3 and cubic SrVO3 on SrTiO3 (001).
• Study of the structure and the resistivity with different SrVO3 layers׳ thickness.
• Suppression of the octahedral rotations when the SrVO3 layer thickness exceeds 3 ML.
• Weak influence of the presence of octahedral rotations on the resistivity.

We have studied the octahedral rotations in LaVO3/SrVO3 superlattices, keeping the thickness of the orthorhombic LaVO3 layers constant and increasing the thickness of cubic SrVO3 layers. We have found that for a small thickness of SrVO3, the octahedral rotations in LaVO3 are maintained, while for an increasing thickness, these rotations are suppressed. This observation cannot be explained by purely elastic effects due to the lattice mismatch between the two materials, but the absence of rotations in SrVO3 is a crucial ingredient, illustrating the concept of interface engineering of octahedral rotations.