The atomic structure of the film–substrate interface of a (001) Sr2RuO4/(100)c LaAlO3 film, determined by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and simulation, is reported. The structure of superconductivity-quenching Δc≈0.25 nm out-of-phase boundaries (OPBs) in the film is also reported. Growth in one region on the La-terminated surface is observed to nucleate with a SrO layer. Because two structurally equivalent SrO layers exist within the unit cell, two neighboring nuclei with differing growth order (SrO-RuO2-SrO or RuO2-SrO-SrO) will nucleate an OPB where their misaligned growth fronts meet. Strategies to avoid OPB generation by this mechanism are suggested, which it is hoped may ultimately lead to superconducting Sr2RuO4 films.

Epitaxial Sr2RuO4 thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition from high-purity (99.98%) Sr2RuO4 targets on (001) LaAlO3 were found to be not superconducting down to 0.4 K. Structural disorder is believed to be responsible. A correlation was observed between higher resistivity ratios in electrical transport measurements and narrower x-ray diffraction rocking curve widths of the Sr2RuO4 films. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed that the dominant structural defects, i.e., the defects leading to the observed variation in rocking curve widths in the films, are {011} planar defects, with a spacing comparable to the in-plane superconducting coherence length of Sr2RuO4. These results imply that minimizing structural disorder is the key remaining challenge to achieving superconducting Sr2RuO4 films.