Determination of the interfacial structure of YBa₂Cu₃O₇/SrRuO₃thin-film heterostructures

Abstract The interfaces in c-axis-oriented YBa2Cu3O7/SrRuO3/YBa2Cu3O7 triple-layer films are investigated by means of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The atomic structure of the interface between the first YBa2Cu3O7 layer and the SrRuO3 layer is clarified by matching a series of experimental [010] images with corresponding calculated images. For the (001) interface a (001) BaO plane of YBa2Cu3O7 layer faces a RuO2 plane of the SrRuO3 layer. Images along [100] of interface steps provide supporting evidence for this and allow the atomic details across the steps to be determined, where a (010) Cu-O plane connects to an SrO plane. This allows the surface plane of the YBa2Cu3O7 films to be determined. It consists of (001) BaO and (100) and (010) Cu-O planes.