Thin films which were deposited, by laser ablation, onto a suitably heated SrTiO3 substrate exhibited a remarkable microstructure; which was studied by means of high-resolution electron microscopy and electron diffraction. A thin, featureless and perfectly coherent (La,Ca)MnO3 layer was formed in direct contact with the substrate. A second and thicker layer was then deposited on top of this first layer. It had a columnar microstructure. These columns, which were parallel to the interface normal were, in fact, prismatic antiphase domains. Their formation was attributed to the introduction of chemical faults during film growth. Islands of rocksalt-type MnO structure, nucleated within the regular La-O layer of the (La,Ca)MnO3 structure, initiated the formation of prismatic antiphase domains. Models of the domain boundaries, and of the film/substrate interface, were verified by a comparison of observed and computer-simulated images.

A Study of the Domain Structure of Epitaxial La1-xCaxMnO3 Films by High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy. O.I.Lebedev, G.Van Tendeloo, A.M.Abakumov, S.Amelinckx, B.Leibold, H.U.Habermeier: Philosophical Magazine A, 1999, 79[6], 1461-78