The characterization of magnesium oxide surfaces prepared by electron beam cleavage

Abstract

Abstract The surface of freshly electron beam cleaved MgO was analyzed by in situ gold decoration experiments. The depositions were performed under controlled vacuum, temperature and supersaturation conditions. Particular attention was directed to the influence of ion and electron irradiation of the substrate surface prior to the depositions. Several significant results were obtained. The decoration behavior on electron beam cleaved (001)MgO is substantially different from published data obtained on mechanically cleaved (001)MgO surfaces. The differences are believed to be due to the extreme temperature conditions during the electron beam cleavage process. No such unusual behavior was found for the (111)-oriented MgO surfaces which are also generated during the electron beam cleavage process. Furthermore, the MgO surface is noticeably susceptible to electron irradiation damage under normal transmission electron microscope imaging conditions, and very small doses of noble gas ion bombardment induce strong structural surface damage which annihilates the differences in nucleation behavior between (100) and (111) substrate areas.