In situ thermal preparation of oxide surfaces

Substrate surfaces terminated with a specific surface reconstruction are a prerequisite for the controlled epitaxial growth of most materials. Focusing on SrTiO3 (001) substrates, it has recently been shown that in situ substrate termination by thermal annealing has decisive advantages over standard termination methods. We report here that in situ substrate termination is a generally applicable method not restricted to SrTiO3 crystals. We specifically demonstrate the successful surface preparation of doped SrTiO3 (001), LaAlO3 (001), NdGaO3 (001), DyScO3 (110), TbScO3 (110), MgO (001), and Al2O3 (0001) surfaces.