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arXiv · 2012.08831

Does a pristine, unreconstructed SrTiO$_3$(001) surface exist?

Igor Sokolović·Giada Franceschi·Zhichang Wang·Jian Xu·Jiří Pavelec·Michele Riva·Michael Schmid·Ulrike Diebold·Martin Setvín
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Abstract

The surfaces of perovskite oxides affect their functional properties, and while a bulk-truncated (1$\times$1) termination is generally assumed, its existence and stability is controversial. Here, such a surface is created by cleaving the prototypical SrTiO$_3$(001) in ultra-high vacuum, and its response to thermal annealing is observed. Atomically resolved nc-AFM shows that intrinsic point defects on the as-cleaved surface migrate at temperatures above 200\,$^\circ$C. At 400--500\,$^\circ$C, a disordered surface layer forms, albeit still with a (1$\times$1) pattern in LEED. Purely TiO$_2$-terminated surfaces, prepared by wet-chemical treatment, are also disordered despite their (1$\times$1) periodicity in LEED.

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Igor Sokolović, Giada Franceschi, Zhichang Wang, Jian Xu, Jiří Pavelec, Michele Riva, Michael Schmid, Ulrike Diebold, Martin Setvín. 2020-12-16. Does a pristine, unreconstructed SrTiO$_3$(001) surface exist?. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.103.l241406

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