X-ray surface diffraction analysis of structural transformations on the (001) surface of oxidized SrTiO3

Surface X-ray scattering was used to study structural modifications on the (0 0 1) surface of oxidized SrTiO3. Grazing incidence in-plane X-ray diffra ction revealed a sequence of quasi-powder diffraction peaks originating fro m crystallites with nearly random in-plane orientation. This diffraction pa ttern is associated with micro-crystallites of irregular shape observed by atomic force microscopy on the surface after annealing in oxygen. Analysis based on available powder diffraction data identified these crystallites as monoclinic TiO. Different oxygen annealing treatments led to dramatic chan ges in the specular (0 0 L) crystal truncation rods indicating significant structural modifications in the underlying single crystal SrTiO3 surface la yer. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.