Growth of CaCuO2and SrxCa1 –xCuO2epitaxial films on NdGaO3substrates by pulsed laser deposition

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Abstract
High quality epitaxial films of the ‘infinite layer’(IL) compound SrxCa1 –xCuO2(x= 0–1) have been grown by pulsed laser deposition on NdGaO3(110) substrates, thus including the last member of this series CaCuO2, for the first time, to our knowledge. The quality of films varied with the composition: higher quality films were obtained for x= 0 and 0.1. The experimental results have been explained by taking into account the lattice match between film and substrate: a better match results in a better film quality. A very good match is obtained on NdGaO3 substrates for IL films with small or zero Sr content. Attempts to grow IL films were also carried out on SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 substrates. On SrTiO3 substrates it was not possible to grow IL films in the absence of Sr, while on LaAlO3 substrates no IL films could be grown at all. In the case of SrTiO3, the lattice match is good only for Sr-rich films, while in the case of LaAlO3, no good match can be obtained for any composition. Such substrate effects are not unexpected due to the importance of the substrate for the pseudomorphic stabilization of the otherwise unstable IL structure.