Nucleation, coarsening, and coalescence during layer-by-layer growth of complex oxides via pulsed laser deposition: Time-resolved, diffuse X-ray scattering studies

We review our real-time X-ray diffuse scattering studies of the evolving structure of complex oxide thin films during pulsed laser deposition in the layer-by-layer growth mode. These measurements provide detailed structural information on the time- and length-scales relevant for growth kinetics. Specifically, we measure both the in-plane length scale, L, and the characteristic relaxation time, τ, as a function of temperature to obtain the diffusivity, D. For both homo- and hetero-epitaxy, island nucleation under supersaturated conditions followed by coarsening of the island distribution, first via ripening and subsequently by coalescence, are identified as the key fundamental growth processes.