Realization of atomically flat steps and terraces like surface of SrTiO3 (001) single crystal by hot water etching and high temperature annealing

Abstract

Abstract We have successfully prepared atomically flat single-terminated SrTiO 3 (001) surface using a mild and reproducible etching technique combined with high temperature annealing. To achieve single terminated surface, deionised water at 60 °C was used to selectively etch SrO composites from the substrate surface. A clear step-and-terrace like surface morphology is observed by subsequent air annealing at 1000 °C. Atomic Force Microscopy suggests the step height (~0.4 nm) corresponding to the lattice parameter of SrTiO 3 , which confirms the formation of single-terminated surface. This chemical-free mild etching technique might be useful to prepare single-terminated surface, especially for the perovskites containing reactive elements.