Strain engineering is an effective way to modify functional properties of thin films. Recently, the
importance of octahedral rotations in pervoskite films has been recognized in discovering and
designing new functional phases. Octahedral behavior of SrRuO3 film as a popular electrode in
heterostructured devices is of particular interest for its probable interfacial coupling of octahedra
with the functional overlayers. Here we report the strain engineering of octahedral rotations and
physical properties that has been achieved in SrRuO3 films in response to the substrate-induced
misfit strains of almost the same amplitude but of opposite signs. It shows that the compressively
strained film on NdGaO3 substrate displays a rotation pattern of a tetragonal phase whilst the
tensilely strained film on KTaO3 substrate has the rotation pattern of the bulk orthorhombic SrRuO3
phase. In addition, the compressively strained film displays a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy
while the tensilely strained film has the magnetic easy axis lying in the film plane. The results show
the prospect of strain engineered octahedral architecture in producing desired property and novel
functionality in the class of perovskite material.