Atomic force microscopy of surface reconstructed SrTiO3 vicinal substratesfor epitaxial growth of YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films

SrTiO3(001) vicinal substrates of miscut 1 degrees, 3 degrees, and 6 degree s toward the (001) plane were annealed at 800-1000 degrees C in pure flowin g O-2 for 6 h and examined by atomic force microscopy. The high temperature annealed vicinal SiTiO3 (001) displayed arrays of straight steps and smoot h terraces. The step heights vary from about 2 to 6 unit cell depending on the annealing temperatures. At 1000 degrees C, step bunching becomes obviou s. The height steps of 1 unit cell are difficult to be observed by our atom ic force microscopy. The YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin film grows epitaxially on the step-terrace surface with c-axis orientation by magnetron sputtering in th e two-dimensional island mode. Prospect of step-flow growth is being discus sed.