Abstract
Structural disorder induced by epitaxial strain relaxation in c-axis oriented [YBa 2Cu 3O 7− x n u.c /PrBa 2Cu 3O 7 5 u.c.] superlattices on (100) SrTiO 3 substrates has been analyzed by high-resolution and energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy. Epitaxial strain shows up in ultrathin YBCO layers with thickness below 4 unit cells. Strain relaxation takes place when layer thickness increases above this value. Microscopy observations for epitaxially strained superlattices show a good morphology of the layers, with sharp and flat interfaces. However, in relaxed samples rougher interfaces are observed, together with microdomains showing the c-axis parallel to the substrate plane which preserve the superlattice compositional profile. Such microdomains of c-parallel growth provide a path for reduced lattice mismatch, conforming a very efficient mechanism for strain relaxation.
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