Phase stability and orientation of SrCu2O2 films grown by pulsed laser deposition

The formation of SrCu2O2 thin films using pulsed laser deposition is discussed. The SrCu2O2 phase is observed for growth condition outside those observed from thermodynamic bulk studies. The structure and properties of epitaxial SrCu2O2 films on (100) SrTiO3 are described. The epitaxial films grow with the tetragonal a-axis oriented perpendicular to the substrate surface. The in-plane orientation is SrCu2O2 (001)vertical bar vertical bar SrTiO3 {011}. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.