Datensatz

Zusammenfassung

A well-ordered TiO₂(110) thin film has been successfully prepared on a rutile TiO₂(110) single crystal substrate with a Ti + Ta mixed oxide interlayer. LEED and STM experiments show that the surface structure of the TiO₂ thin film is the same as that of a regular TiO₂(110) single crystal sample, and methanol TPD studies indicate that the chemical activities of the surfaces are also essentially identical. The Ti + Ta oxide interlayer hinders Ti diffusion, and therefore the TiO₂ film can quickly be reduced and oxidized due to the small layer volume without changing the state of the substrate notably. This permits to study fully oxidized defect-free electrically insulating TiO₂(110) surfaces with methods employing charged particles without surface charging. Also, strongly reduced layers can be prepared without substrate reduction.