Epitaxial growth of thin TiO 2 films on the Au covered Fe(100) surface

It is known that the growth of perfectly stoichiometric thin films of TiO 2 on Fe(100) can be obtained by molecular beam epitaxy in a molecular oxygen atmosphere only if the growth temperature is increased to 300 °C, at the expense of a great interfacial mixing. Such a mixing is significantly reduced at room temperature, where more defective films develop. Here, we investigate the possibility of using an Au buffer layer to obtain better quality TiO 2 films on Fe(100). X‐ray Photoemission Spectroscopy and Low Energy Electron Diffraction are employed to investigate the electronic and structural properties of the TiO 2 /Au/Fe interfaces. We obtain crystalline rutile films with a reduced number of defects when compared to room temperature grown TiO 2 /Fe(100) samples but still subject to interface mixing effects.