Strain Driven Phase Decomposition in Ion-Beam Sputtered Pr_1−XCa_XMnO₃ Films

Figure 7

In situ determination of the thickness dependent stress during deposition of PCMO (, ) on STO and Pt-coated MgO substrates. The actual film thicknesses were calculated from deposition rate times time and the final thickness amounts to about 100 nm for both samples. In the case of the deposition on STO, the reflected laser beams moved out of the detection window above  nm. Using the linear part of the plot, we estimate the stress at 100 nm to be about 1 GPa. During cooling, the reflected beams moved back and the stress evolution could be measured.