The misfit relaxation mechanism of thin films with various thicknesses, grown 2-dimensionally onto SrTiO3(100) substrates using pulsed laser deposition, was analyzed using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The main defects in partially relaxed films were misfit dislocations with Burgers vectors of a<100> type, threading dislocations connected to those dislocations, and inclined threading dislocations with Burgers vectors of a<110>-type. Misfit and threading dislocations with equivalent Burgers vectors of type a<100> constituted half-loops. Meanwhile, a<110> threading dislocations were formed via kinetic reaction between these half-loops. In addition, 2 types of dislocation dissociation in a<100> misfit dislocations and a<110> threading dislocations were found by using a high resolution. Dissociation of this misfit dislocation took place with increasing film thickness, and generated stacking faults with displacement vectors of a/2<101>-type. The misfit relaxation depended upon the half-loop misfit segment and fused threading dislocation; not upon the a<100> threading segment of the half-loop.

Analysis of Misfit Relaxation in Heteroepitaxial BaTiO3 Thin Films. T.Suzuki, Y.Nishi, M.Fujimoto: Philosophical Magazine A, 1999, 79[10], 2461-83