Surface physical studies of poly- and single-crystalline BaTiO3

We have studied polycrystalline and single-crystalline faces in (100) and ( Ill)orientation of BaTiO3. As main methods we used scanning tunnelling micr oscopy (STM) and low energy electron diffraction (LEED) to obtain informati on on the morphology and the atomic structure of the surfaces. For the poly crystalline samples, the grain boundaries could be imaged by STM. LEED show ed the formation of reconstructions not yet described in the literature. Us ing STM, we were able to image ferroelectric domains by the structural modu lation of the surface. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.