Strain dependence of dissociative adsorption of H2O on epitaxially strained, out-of-plane polarized, BaTiO3(001) thin films

Abstract The strain dependence of the apparent activation energy of desorption of H 2 O on epitaxial, TiO 2 -terminated, out-of-plane polarized, BaTiO 3 (100) thin films has been investigated using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and temperature-programmed desorption. The apparent activation energy of desorption increases significantly with the in-plane strain, suggesting that the strain-induced ferroelectric distortion determines the strength of the chemical bond between the dissociatively adsorbed water and the surface.