  A precisely selected elastic strain can be introduced in submicron-thick
single-crystal SrTiO3 sheets using a silicon nitride stressor layer. A
conformal stressor layer deposited using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor
deposition produces an elastic strain in the sheet consistent with the
magnitude of the nitride residual stress. Synchrotron x-ray nanodiffraction
reveals that the strain introduced in the SrTiO3 sheets is on the order of 10
4, matching the predictions of an elastic model. This approach to elastic
strain sharing in complex oxides allows the strain to be selected within a wide
and continuous range of values, an effect not achievable in heteroepitaxy on
rigid substrates.
