The unique combination of (a) highly brilliant x-raysproduced in a modern third
generation synchrotronsource, (b) the availability of a fast,single-photon
counting area pixel detector and (c) apulsed laser deposition equipment for in-
situ growthenables one to study both the structure and kineticsof the thin film
growth of perovskites. The surfacestructure of titanium-dioxide-terminated
strontiumtitanate (STO) was analyzed by surface x-raydiffraction (SXRD) for two
different environments:One (cold) at room temperature and in ultra-highvacuum,
and the other (hot) at elevated temperaturesand in an oxygen background, i.e.,
under conditionstypical for perovskite thin film growth. SXRD wasused to
determine the atomic structures of lanthanumstrontium manganate thin films,
grownmonolayer-by-monolayer on STO by pulsed laserdeposition. Structures were
solved using the COBRAphase-retrieval method and subsequent
structuralrefinement. These results allowed concluding on theonset of colossal
magnetoresistance. In-situ kineticstudies of the thin film growth led to
theproposition of a novel energetic smoothing mechanismfor the growth of
complex metal-oxide thin films.
