Oxygen Partial Pressure during Pulsed Laser Deposition: Deterministic Role on Thermodynamic Stability of Atomic Termination Sequence at SrRuO₃/BaTiO₃ Interface

Abstract

With recent trends on miniaturizing oxide-based devices, the need for atomic-scale control of surface/interface structures by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) has increased. In particular, realizing uniform atomic termination at the surface/interface is highly desirable. However, a lack of understanding on the surface formation mechanism in PLD has limited a deliberate control of surface/interface atomic stacking sequences. Here, taking the prototypical SrRuO 3 /BaTiO 3 /SrRuO 3 (SRO/BTO/SRO) heterostructure as a model system, we investigated the formation of different interfacial termination sequences (BaO–RuO 2 or TiO 2 –SrO) with oxygen partial pressure ( P O 2 ) during PLD. We found that a uniform SrO–TiO 2 termination sequence at the SRO/BTO interface can be achieved by lowering the P O 2 to 5 mTorr, regardless of the total background gas pressure ( P total ), growth mode, or growth rate. Our results indicate that the thermodynamic stability of the BTO surface at the low-energy kinetics stage of PLD can play an important role in surface/interface termination formation. This work paves the way for realizing termination engineering in functional oxide heterostructures.