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.