Evolution of the surface atomic structure of multielement oxide films: curse or blessing?

Atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are used to gain atomic-scale insights into the heteroepitaxy of lanthanum–strontium manganite (LSMO, La(1−x)Sr(x)MnO(3−δ), x ≈ 0.2) on SrTiO(3)(110). LSMO is a perovskite oxide characterized by several composition-dependent surface reconstructions. The flexibility of the surface allows it to incorporate nonstoichiometries during growth, which causes the structure of the surface to evolve accordingly. This happens up to a critical point, where phase separation occurs, clusters rich in the excess cations form at the surface, and films show a rough morphology. To limit the nonstoichiometry introduced by non-optimal growth conditions, it proves useful to monitor the changes in surface atomic structures as a function of the PLD parameters and tune the latter accordingly.