Abstract
Highly regular step and terrace structures have been produced on surfaces of single crystalline MgO, miscut from the low-index (001) plane, upon annealing in air. Here, the evolution of the surface morphology of such surfaces is investigated. We demonstrate that the periodicity of these structures can be widely tuned in the submicron range by controlling the annealing conditions. Surface faceting resulted from annealing in the temperature range 1100-1580 °C. The surfaces were characterized by atomic force microscope, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to assess the role of contamination, temperature, and miscut angle in the final morphology. The presence of Al contamination in the post-annealed samples was found to be essential for the formation of the step and terrace structure. The stability of the resultant structures when exposed to ambient conditions is discussed. The cause of the apparent destruction of the surface morphology upon long-term atmospheric exposure has been identified, and a method to recover the faceted morphology is proposed. Overall, the study further facilitates the growth of nanostructures on such faceted surfaces.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 969-977 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Surface and Interface Analysis |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 1 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- annealing
- faceting
- magnesium oxide
- surface morphology
- vicinal surface
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Surfaces and Interfaces
- Materials Chemistry
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
Cite this
Induced morphological changes on vicinal MgO (100) subjected to high-temperature annealing : Step formation and surface stability. / Syrlybekov, A.; Arca, E.; Verre, R.; O Coileain, C.; Toktarbaiuly, O.; Khalid, A.; Zhang, H.; Shvets, I. V.
In: Surface and Interface Analysis, Vol. 47, No. 10, 01.10.2015, p. 969-977.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Induced morphological changes on vicinal MgO (100) subjected to high-temperature annealing
T2 - Step formation and surface stability
AU - Syrlybekov, A.
AU - Arca, E.
AU - Verre, R.
AU - O Coileain, C.
AU - Toktarbaiuly, O.
AU - Khalid, A.
AU - Zhang, H.
AU - Shvets, I. V.
PY - 2015/10/1
Y1 - 2015/10/1
N2 - Highly regular step and terrace structures have been produced on surfaces of single crystalline MgO, miscut from the low-index (001) plane, upon annealing in air. Here, the evolution of the surface morphology of such surfaces is investigated. We demonstrate that the periodicity of these structures can be widely tuned in the submicron range by controlling the annealing conditions. Surface faceting resulted from annealing in the temperature range 1100-1580 °C. The surfaces were characterized by atomic force microscope, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to assess the role of contamination, temperature, and miscut angle in the final morphology. The presence of Al contamination in the post-annealed samples was found to be essential for the formation of the step and terrace structure. The stability of the resultant structures when exposed to ambient conditions is discussed. The cause of the apparent destruction of the surface morphology upon long-term atmospheric exposure has been identified, and a method to recover the faceted morphology is proposed. Overall, the study further facilitates the growth of nanostructures on such faceted surfaces.
AB - Highly regular step and terrace structures have been produced on surfaces of single crystalline MgO, miscut from the low-index (001) plane, upon annealing in air. Here, the evolution of the surface morphology of such surfaces is investigated. We demonstrate that the periodicity of these structures can be widely tuned in the submicron range by controlling the annealing conditions. Surface faceting resulted from annealing in the temperature range 1100-1580 °C. The surfaces were characterized by atomic force microscope, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to assess the role of contamination, temperature, and miscut angle in the final morphology. The presence of Al contamination in the post-annealed samples was found to be essential for the formation of the step and terrace structure. The stability of the resultant structures when exposed to ambient conditions is discussed. The cause of the apparent destruction of the surface morphology upon long-term atmospheric exposure has been identified, and a method to recover the faceted morphology is proposed. Overall, the study further facilitates the growth of nanostructures on such faceted surfaces.
KW - annealing
KW - faceting
KW - magnesium oxide
KW - surface morphology
KW - vicinal surface
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84941744465&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84941744465&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/sia.5805
DO - 10.1002/sia.5805
M3 - Article
VL - 47
SP - 969
EP - 977
JO - Surface and Interface Analysis
JF - Surface and Interface Analysis
SN - 0142-2421
IS - 10
ER -