Helium Atom Scattering from KTa0:7Nb0:3O3 (001): Anomalous Surface reflectivity with varying surface temperature and helium wave vector

Helium atom diraction experiments have been carried out on the (001) surface of KTaO3 doped with 30% Nb. The surfaces were produced by cleaving single crystals of the material in situ. After the samples were thermally cycled, the angular distributions measured in the azimuth, but not those in the azimuth, revealed half-order diraction peaks. These indicate the formation of small (21) surface domains. The scans of the specular and Bragg diraction peak intensities as the sample temperatures were varied from about 325K to 60-80K and back to 325K showed large hysteresis particularly in the azimuth. In addition, these scans showed a distinct intensity dip at about 85K, which is far removed from any bulk phase transition temperature of this material. Most curious, the specular re ectivity of the surface was found to be a strong function of the He wavevector, decreasing rapidly as the wavevector was varied above or below an optimum value.