Surface stability of epitaxial SrRuO3 films

Junsoo Shin; S. V. Kalinin; H. N. Lee; H. M. Christen; R. G. Moore; E. W. Plummer; A. P. Baddorf

doi:10.1016/j.susc.2005.02.038

Surface stability of epitaxial SrRuO₃ films

Junsoo Shin, S. V. Kalinin, H. N. Lee, H. M. Christen, R. G. Moore, E. W. Plummer, A. P. Baddorf

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

The thermal stability of epitaxial SrRuO₃ thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) has been studied by repetitive annealing by steps of 100°C up to 800°C under high vacuum and high oxygen pressure conditions. The evolution of chemical state, surface crystallographic structure, surface topography, and the nature of desorption products were studied using electron diffraction, spectroscopy, and scanning probe microscopy. Exposure to atmosphere leads to decomposition of the surface in vacuum at ∼300°C, despite good crystalline order before annealing. At the same time, films annealed to 700°C in an oxygen/ozone mixture (10 mTorr) followed by vacuum annealing show no evidence of decomposition below 600°C. These results reveal that the surface stability of epitaxial SrRuO₃ is strongly affected by the presence of surface contaminants after exposure to air. Vibrational spectroscopy identifies these contaminants as adsorbed hydrocarbons. Results are compared with thermodynamic calculations, and implications for oxide electronic device technology are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	118-132
Number of pages	15
Journal	Surface Science
Volume	581
Issue number	2-3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susc.2005.02.038
State	Published - May 1 2005

Funding

Research was performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the US Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. Support as a Eugene P. Wigner Fellow is acknowledged (SVK). Research was partially sponsored as part of a BES NSET initiative on Nanoscale Cooperative Phenomena and the LDRD program (HNL and HMC) and by the National Science Foundation grant DMR-0072998 (RGM).

Funders	Funder number
BES NSET
US Department of Energy	DE-AC05-00OR22725
National Science Foundation	DMR-0072998
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Keywords

Metallic surfaces
Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED)
Scanning tunneling microscopy
Surface structure, morphology, roughness, and topography
Thermal desorption spectroscopy
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Access to Document

10.1016/j.susc.2005.02.038

Cite this

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title = "Surface stability of epitaxial SrRuO3 films",

abstract = "The thermal stability of epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) has been studied by repetitive annealing by steps of 100°C up to 800°C under high vacuum and high oxygen pressure conditions. The evolution of chemical state, surface crystallographic structure, surface topography, and the nature of desorption products were studied using electron diffraction, spectroscopy, and scanning probe microscopy. Exposure to atmosphere leads to decomposition of the surface in vacuum at ∼300°C, despite good crystalline order before annealing. At the same time, films annealed to 700°C in an oxygen/ozone mixture (10 mTorr) followed by vacuum annealing show no evidence of decomposition below 600°C. These results reveal that the surface stability of epitaxial SrRuO3 is strongly affected by the presence of surface contaminants after exposure to air. Vibrational spectroscopy identifies these contaminants as adsorbed hydrocarbons. Results are compared with thermodynamic calculations, and implications for oxide electronic device technology are discussed.",

keywords = "Metallic surfaces, Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), Scanning tunneling microscopy, Surface structure, morphology, roughness, and topography, Thermal desorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy",

author = "Junsoo Shin and Kalinin, {S. V.} and Lee, {H. N.} and Christen, {H. M.} and Moore, {R. G.} and Plummer, {E. W.} and Baddorf, {A. P.}",

year = "2005",

month = may,

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doi = "10.1016/j.susc.2005.02.038",

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T1 - Surface stability of epitaxial SrRuO3 films

AU - Shin, Junsoo

AU - Kalinin, S. V.

AU - Lee, H. N.

AU - Christen, H. M.

AU - Moore, R. G.

AU - Plummer, E. W.

AU - Baddorf, A. P.

PY - 2005/5/1

Y1 - 2005/5/1

N2 - The thermal stability of epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) has been studied by repetitive annealing by steps of 100°C up to 800°C under high vacuum and high oxygen pressure conditions. The evolution of chemical state, surface crystallographic structure, surface topography, and the nature of desorption products were studied using electron diffraction, spectroscopy, and scanning probe microscopy. Exposure to atmosphere leads to decomposition of the surface in vacuum at ∼300°C, despite good crystalline order before annealing. At the same time, films annealed to 700°C in an oxygen/ozone mixture (10 mTorr) followed by vacuum annealing show no evidence of decomposition below 600°C. These results reveal that the surface stability of epitaxial SrRuO3 is strongly affected by the presence of surface contaminants after exposure to air. Vibrational spectroscopy identifies these contaminants as adsorbed hydrocarbons. Results are compared with thermodynamic calculations, and implications for oxide electronic device technology are discussed.

AB - The thermal stability of epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) has been studied by repetitive annealing by steps of 100°C up to 800°C under high vacuum and high oxygen pressure conditions. The evolution of chemical state, surface crystallographic structure, surface topography, and the nature of desorption products were studied using electron diffraction, spectroscopy, and scanning probe microscopy. Exposure to atmosphere leads to decomposition of the surface in vacuum at ∼300°C, despite good crystalline order before annealing. At the same time, films annealed to 700°C in an oxygen/ozone mixture (10 mTorr) followed by vacuum annealing show no evidence of decomposition below 600°C. These results reveal that the surface stability of epitaxial SrRuO3 is strongly affected by the presence of surface contaminants after exposure to air. Vibrational spectroscopy identifies these contaminants as adsorbed hydrocarbons. Results are compared with thermodynamic calculations, and implications for oxide electronic device technology are discussed.

KW - Metallic surfaces

KW - Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED)

KW - Scanning tunneling microscopy

KW - Surface structure, morphology, roughness, and topography

KW - Thermal desorption spectroscopy

KW - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

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