BaTiO3 thin films were grown onto (001) SrTiO3 by reactive molecular beam epitaxy. Transmission electron microscopy studies showed that there was a high density of dislocation half-loops within 8- and 12nm-thick films. By thermal annealing (1000C), the isolated small dislocation half-loops grew and combined to form a self-assembled regular dislocation network at the film/substrate interface. Threading dislocations in the films were removed and the lattice mismatch strain in the film was nearly completely relaxed by annealing at high temperature.

Structural Evolution of Dislocation Half-Loops in Epitaxial BaTiO3 Thin Films during High-Temperature Annealing. H.P.Sun, X.Q.Pan, J.H.Haeni, D.G.Schlom: Applied Physics Letters, 2004, 85[11], 1967-9