Growth and electronic properties of nanolines on TiO2-terminated SrTiO3(001) surfaces

Abstract

Surfaces of homoepitaxially grown TiO2-terminated SrTiO3(001) were studied in situ with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. By controlling the Ti/Sr ratio, two-dimensional domains of highly ordered linear nanostructures, so-called "nanolines", are found to form on the surface. To further study how the surface structure affects the band structure, spectroscopic studies of these surfaces were performed. Our results reveal significantly more band bending for surfaces with the nanolines, indicative of an acceptor state associated with these features. Additionally, an in-gap state is observed on nanoline surfaces grown under high oxygen deficient conditions. This state appears to be the same as that observed previously, arising from the (++/+) transition level of surface oxygen vacancies.