Growth and structure investigation of multiferroic superlattices: [(La0.8Sr0.2MnO3)4n/(BaTiO3)3n]m

We demonstrate the epitaxial growth of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3(LSMO)/BaTiO3(BTO) multilayer films on SrTiO3 (STO) (001) single-crystal substrate using laser molecular beam epitaxy. The superstructure for achieving fully strained superlattices was optimized at the thickness ratio of 3/4 between compressive and tensile layers by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. Furthermore, such layered perovskite superlattices LSMO4n/BTO3n (n=2n=2, 3 to 4) were successfully grown up to 16 superlattice periods. The in situ RHEED observations confirmed that growth was achieved at the atomic level. Further ex situ characterization verified that the thickness control was 0.1 Å.