SrTiO$_3$ termination control: A method to tailor the oxygen exchange kinetics

We provide insights into the influence of surface termination on the oxygen vacancy incorporation for the perovskite model material SrTiO3 during annealing in reducing gas environments. We present a novel approach to control to tailor the oxygen vacancy formation by controlling the termination. We prove that a SrO-termination can inhibit the incorporation of oxygen vacancies across the (100)-surface and apply this to control their incorporation during thin film growth. Utilizing the conducting interface between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3, we could tailor the oxygen-vacancy based conductivity contribution by the level of SrO termination at the interface.

Felix V. E. Hensling, Christoph Baeumer, Marc-André Rose, Felix Gunkel, Regina Dittmann · 2019