In recent years, well-defined and nearly perfect single crystal surfaces of oxide perovskites have become increasingly important. A single terminated surface is a prerequisite for reproducible thin film growth and fundamental growth studies. In this work, atomic and lateral force microscopy have been used to display different terminations of SrTiO3. We observe hydroxylation of the topmost SrO layer after immersion of SrTiO3 in water, which is used to enhance the etch-selectivity of SrO relative to TiO2 in a buffered HF solution. We reproducibly obtain perfect and single terminated surfaces, irrespective of the initial state of polished surfaces and the pH value of the HF solution. This approach to the problem might be used for a variety of multi-component oxide single crystals. True two-dimensional reflection high-energy electron diffraction intensity oscillations are observed during homo epitaxial growth using pulsed laser deposition on these surfaces.
The formation and structure of alkyltrichlorosilanes on several types of SrTiOs substrates have been studied. The silanes adsorb spontaneously from a hexadecane solution and form monolayers on all the substrates used. Characterization has been performed by atomic force microscopy, wettability, angle resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. It was found that highly ordered and densely packed monolayers were formed below a certain temperature. 0 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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