Octahedra rotations coupling in perovskite vanadate heterostructures*

Octahedral rotations patterns in transition metal perovskites affect their physical properties due to the strong coupling between the lattice and electronic degrees of freedom. Across an interface in an epitaxial heterostructure, the corner sharing of the oxygen octahedra has been shown to modify the natural rotation pattern of the layer; the extent and structural details of the affected region are currently at the focus of several studies. In this work, we investigate by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) the interface between two orthorhombic structures which display in their bulk part a different orientation of their tilt patterns. The heterostructure consists of a LaVO₃ film epitaxially grown onto a (110)_o DyScO₃ substrate. STEM imaging reveals the existence of an atomically sharp chemical interface and a 10 unit cell thick structural transition layer