Berlin 2012 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 58: Poster Session III (Solid/liquid interfaces; Metals; Semiconductors; Oxides and insulators)
O 58.55: Poster
Wednesday, March 28, 2012, 18:15–21:45, Poster B
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy study of single-crystalline Sr3Ru2O7 — •Bernhard Stöger1, Zhiming Wang1, Michael Schmid1, Ulrike Diebold1, David Fibes2, and Zhiqiang Mao2 — 1Institute of Applied Physics, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria — 2Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
Perovskite oxides play an important role as cathodes in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and in catalysis. Investigating surface defects such as oxygen vacancies and the adsorption of relevant molecules helps gaining more insight into the physics behind SOFCs and catalytic processes.
High quality Sr3Ru2O7 (SRO) single crystals were grown using the floating zone technique. Sr3Ru2O7 is part of the ruthenate Ruddlesden-Popper series Srn+1RunO3n+1, which have a layered structure. We investigated the surface of SRO, by means of Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) at 78 K. The single crystals were cleaved in ultra-high vacuum at 150 K, which results in rather large terraces. We have characterized the defects that are present at as-cleaved surfaces, and how their appearance changes with applied STM tunneling parameters. Adsorption of carbon monoxide dosed at 105 K, results in asymmetric cross-like features that span several surface unit cells.
This work was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF project F45)