Growth of epitaxial Pt thin films on (001) SrTiO3 by rf magnetron sputtering

•Highly c-axis oriented Pt thin films were grown on STO by rf sputtering.•A temperature dependent transition from 2D to 3D was found in the growth of Pt films.•Epitaxial Pt thin films form an atomically sharp interface with the STO(100) substrate as confirmed by HRTEM. The growth of platinum thin film by rf magnetron sputtering on SrTiO3(001) substrates for oxide based devices was investigated. Platinum films grown at temperatures higher than 750°C were epitaxial ([100]Pt(001)//[100]STO(001)), whereas at lower temperatures Pt(111) films were obtained. The surface morphology of the Pt films showed a strong dependence on the deposition temperature as was revealed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). At elevated temperatures there is a three-dimensional (3D) growth of rectangular atomically flat islands with deep boundaries between them. On the other hand, at low deposition temperatures, a two-dimensional (2D) layered growth was observed. The transition from 2D to 3D growth modes was observed that occurs for temperatures around 450°C. The obtained epitaxial thin films also formed an atomically sharp interface with the SrTiO3(001) substrate as confirmed by HRTEM.