Atomic scale identification of the terminating structure of compound materials by CAICISS (coaxial impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy)

Abstract

Quantitative surface analysis includes the determination of the elemental composition and the structure of the sample under investigation. Although LEED, XPS, and SPM etc. have been used to investigate the surface structure of the materials, ambiguity remains in determining quantitatively the topmost atomic species and its alignment on an atomic scale. Therefore, we adopted coaxial impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy (CAICISS) to identify the terminating structure of compound materials such as SrTiO 3(001), InP(001) etc. As a result of the measurements, we could determine the topmost atomic plane of those materials. CAICISS is considered to be a powerful tool for those topmost surface analysis of the materials.