Structural behaviour of BiFeO3/SrRuO3 superlattices: an X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy investigation

Epitaxial BiFeO3/SrRuO3 superlattices have been grown by pulsed laser deposition on a (001) oriented LaAlO3 substrate and probed by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. To investigate the structural competition between rhombohedral BiFeO3 and orthorhombic SrRuO3 the total thickness of all SLs was kept constant and the bilayer thickness (period) {Lambda} was varied. The interlayer strain effects are therefore tuned from large strain effects (short {Lambda} period) to quasi-relaxed structure (large {Lambda}). A complementary investigation using X-ray diffraction and phonon dynamics hints to change from a rhombohedral to a tetragonal structure in the superlattices with the increase of the interlayer strain effect.