By using X-ray sub-micro beams, the strain in epitaxial La1–xSrxMnO3 films grown on SrTiO3(001) bicrystal substrates was spatially mapped. The results showed that there was an elastic strain gradient at the artificial grain boundary, which decayed over a length-scale of about 1µm. The tensile strain at the interior of the grain, due to the lattice mismatch between La1–xSrxMnO3 and SrTiO3, relaxed as the film neared the grain boundary; yielding a grain-boundary lattice constant which approached the value of that in bulk material.

Local Mapping of Strain at Grain Boundaries in Colossal Magnetoresistive Films using X-ray Microdiffraction. Y.A.Soh, P.G.Evans, Z.Cai, B.Lai, C.Y.Kim, G.Aeppli, N.D.Mathur, M.G.Blamire, E.D.Isaacs: Journal of Applied Physics, 2002, 91[10], 7742-4