Unraveling the (1 × 1) and (1 × 2) reconstructed surface structures of SrTiO3(1 1 0) single crystal

Abstract

The surface composition and structure of a strontium titanate (1 1 0) single crystal were evaluated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and x-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD). The (1 × 1) and (1 × 2) reconstructions of the SrTiO3 (1 1 0) surface were characterized by XPD. The comparison between the experimental and theoretical XPD results that used multiple-scattering calculation of diffractions (MSCD) simulation combined with the genetic algorithm suggests that (1 × 2) reconstruction comprises a coexistence of 60.0 % TiO4+ and 40.0 % O24− terminations on the (1 × 1) reconstructed SrTiO3 (1 1 0) surface.