High Resolution STM on SrRuO3
(Result of the month 08/2010)

Oxygen-Induced Surface reconstruction of SrRuO3 and Its Effect on the BaTiO3 Interface

Scanning tunneling microscopy images of the thin film SrRuO3 surface showing rows and their long-range periodicity. Scan range 50nm x 50nm
This work combines several microscopies capable of atomic resolution to provide unprecedented insight into the structure of surfaces and interfaces during the layer-by-layer growth of BaTiO3 films on SrRuO3. This material (BaTiO3) is a classic ferroelectric material that spontaneously polarizes in one of several possible directions and the most common conducting oxide, and have been the subject of numerous investigations. By combining in situ measurements of in-plane surface structure, ex situ cross-sectional microscopy and spectroscopy, and first-principles simulations, we provide the first atomic scale structure of the SrRuO3 surface and its impact on the interface with several layers of BaTiO3. Surprisingly, the SrRuO3 surface, which had previously been thought to have ideal perovskite termination, is actually reconstructed at atomic length scales. This reconstruction increases the oxygen concentration and persists in the SrRuO3-BaTiO3 interface. This study presents a new archetype for identification of stoichiometry and interface structure in oxides, required for control of functional properties.
SrRuO3 models viewed from the top (upper panels) and side (lower panels). (A) Bulk-terminated, flat surface model. (B) Minimum energy configuration when one row of SrO is "elevated" on top of the surface. This structure is not stable. (C) Addition of one O per promoted SrO, which energetically prefers the site vacated by the Sr, increases the stability substantially


Authors:
Junsoo Shin1,2, Albina Borisevich1 ,Vincent Meunier,3 Jing Zhou4, E. Ward Plummer5Sergei V. Kalinin3, and Arthur P. Baddorf3

Institutes:
(1) Materials Sciences and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
(2) Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
(3) Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
(4) Department of Chemistry, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071
(5) Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803

Publication:
ACS Nano, web published June 24, 2010, doi: 10.1021/nn1008337

 
This result has been obtained with :
Variable Temperature UHV SPM

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