  Epitaxial Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin films were prepared on Nb-doped SrTiO3
(100)substrates by the pulsed laser deposition technique, and were studied by
measuring the Ti 2p - 3d resonant photoemission spectra in the valence-band
region as a function of film thickness, both at room temperature and low
temperature. Our results demonstrated an abrupt variation in the spectral
structures between 2.8 nm (~7 monolayers) and 2.0 nm (~5 monolayers)
Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 films, suggesting that there exists a critical thickness for
phase change in the range of 2.0 nm to 2.8 nm. This may be ascribed mainly to
the intrinsic size effects.
