The surface structure of TiO2(001) after high temperature annealing studied by AFM, STM, and optical microscopy

摘要

TO2(001) rutile single crystals have been annealed under ultra-high vacuum conditions to above 1000 degrees C for 1 h. The surface structure was investigated by AFM, STM and optical microscopy. The surface starts changing its structure after annealing to 1200 degrees C when lines appear at a separation of approximately 40 nm in the (100) directions. After further annealing to 1250 degrees C a more rough surface structure appears with shorter steps along the (110) directions. After annealing to 1300 degrees C lines in excess of 50 mu m length and 60 nm height can be observed by AFM and optical microscopy. We conclude that the lines are caused by slip and the relevant slip systems are {101}10 (1) over bar and {001}100. It has been shown that STM, AFM and optical microscopy are complementary and suited to study slip processes on a length scale between atomic dimensions and dimensions accessible for the naked eye. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. References: 23