  Strain engineering with different substrate facets is promising for tuning
functional properties of thin film perovskite oxides. By choice of facet,
different surface symmetries and chemical bond directions for epitaxial
interfaces can be tailored. Here, preparation of well-defined pseudo-cubic
(111)-oriented orthorhombic substrates of DyScO3 , GdScO3 , and NdGaO3 is
reported. The choice of orthorhombic facet, (011)o or (101)o , both
corresponding to pseudo-cubic (111)pc , gives vicinal surfaces with single or
double (111pc layer terrace step heights, respectively, impacting subsequent
thin film growth. Orthorhombic LaFeO3 epitaxy on the (101)o facet reveals a
distinction between alternating (111)pc layers, both during and after growth.
The observed differences are explained based on the oxygen octahedral tilt
pattern relative to the two orthorhombic (111)pc surfaces. This robust
structural detail in the orthorhombic perovskite oxides enables utilisation of
different (111)pc facets for property engineering, through polyhedral
connectivity control and cation coordination at epitaxial interfaces.
