Structure and Electronic Properties of Step Edges in the Aluminum Oxide Film on NiAl(110)

  • chair:

    Heinke, L. / Lichtenstein, L. / Simon, G. / König, T. / Heyde, M. / Freund, H. (2010)
  • place:

    Physical Review B 82 (2010), 7, 075430
  • Date: 2010

  • Heinke, L. / Lichtenstein, L. / Simon, G. / König, T. / Heyde, M. / Freund, H. (2010): „Structure and Electronic Properties of Step Edges in the Aluminum Oxide Film on NiAl(110)“. In: Physical Review B 82 (2010), 7, 075430

Abstract

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Thin film aluminum oxide has been investigated at step edges of the NiAl(110) substrate by means of low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy. A preference of the step edges for certain orientations and a restructuring of the substrate step edges during the oxidation were shown.

The surface unit cell of the oxide film at the step edge is similarly extended as at the antiphase domain boundaries (APDBs), which are oxygen deficient defects with F2+-like centers. The local electronic structure and the local work function at the step edges resemble that of the APDBs. Therefore, an oxide film structure at the step edge which is similar to the APDB as well as a carpetlike coverage of the substrate steps is concluded. This means there are F2+-like centers at step edges.