Structural reorientation of PLD grown La2NiO4 thin films

► Single crystal La2NiO4 films were grown on STO (001) substrates by use of pulsed laser deposition (PLD). ► It was found that these films grow with the c-axis in the out of plane direction up to a certain critical thickness. ► Films thicker than that resulted in a structural reorientation from c-axis to a-axis out of plane orientation. ► The evolution of the c and a axis as a function of film thickness were measured by using a four circle X-ray diffractometer.