During the initial growth of the ferromagnetic oxide SrRuO3 on TiO2-terminated SrTiO3, a self-organized conversion of the terminating atomic layer from RuO2 to SrO was observed. This conversion induces an abrupt change in growth mode from layer-by-layer to growth by step advancement, indicating a large enhancement of the surface diffusivity. This growth mode enables the growth of single-crystalline and single-domain thin films. Both conversion and the resulting growth mode enable the control of the interface properties in hetero-epitaxial multi-layer structures on an atomic level.

Enhanced Surface Diffusion through Termination Conversion during Epitaxial SrRuO3 Growth. G.Rijnders, D.H.A.Blank, J.Choi, C.B.Eom: Applied Physics Letters, 2004, 84[4], 505-7