1. Point defects at cleaved Sr$_{n+1}$Ru$_n$O$_{3n+1}$(001) surfaces
- Author
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Stöger, Bernhard, Hieckel, Marcel, Mittendorfer, Florian, Wang, Zhiming, Schmid, Michael, Parkinson, Gareth S., Fobes, David, Peng, Jin, Ortmann, John. E., Limbeck, Andreas, Mao, Zhiqiang, Redinger, Josef, and Diebold, Ulrike
- Subjects
Condensed Matter - Materials Science - Abstract
The (001) surfaces of cleaved Sr$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ and Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ samples were investigated using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory calculations. Intrinsic defects are not created during cleaving. This experimental observation is consistent with calculations, where the formation energy for a Sr and O vacancy, 4.19 eV and 3.81 eV, respectively, is significantly larger than that required to cleave the crystal, 1.11 eV/(1 $\times$ 1) unit cell. Surface oxygen vacancies can be created through electron bombardment, however, and their appearance is shown to vary strongly with the imaging conditions. Point defects observed on as-cleaved surfaces result from bulk impurities and adsorption from the residual gas.
- Published
- 2018
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