文摘
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.