A-site surface termination in strontium titanate single crystals

It is well known that chemical etching of strontium titanate (SrTiO3) results in titanium-terminated (B site) surfaces. In this letter, we describe a facile method for generating strontium-terminated surfaces in SrTiO3. We demonstrate that a substrate treatment consisting of a low-power oxygen ashing followed by annealing yields a strontium (A site)-terminated surface in single-crystal SrTiO3 (100). This surface termination of the substrate allows the deposition of cuprate films with improved quality. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.