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Epitaxial growth of thin TiO 2 films on the Au covered Fe(100) surface
Author(s) -
Brambilla A.,
Calloni A.,
Berti G.,
Bussetti G.,
Duò L.,
Ciccacci F.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
crystal research and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.377
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1521-4079
pISSN - 0232-1300
DOI - 10.1002/crat.201300416
Subject(s) - materials science , rutile , molecular beam epitaxy , epitaxy , stoichiometry , thin film , low energy electron diffraction , electron diffraction , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , mixing (physics) , layer (electronics) , analytical chemistry (journal) , diffraction , photoemission spectroscopy , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , chemistry , optics , physics , quantum mechanics , chromatography , engineering
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.