Title: Resolving the Structure of a Well-Ordered Hydroxyl Overlayer on In ₂ O ₃ (111): Nanomanipulation and Theory

Abstract

Changes in chemical and physical properties resulting from water adsorption play an important role in the characterization and performance of device-relevant materials. Studies of model oxides with well-characterized surfaces can provide detailed information that is vital for a general understanding of water–oxide interactions. In this work, we study single crystals of indium oxide, the prototypical transparent contact material that is heavily used in a wide range of applications and most prominently in optoelectronic technologies. Water adsorbs dissociatively already at temperatures as low as 100 K, as confirmed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), photoelectron spectroscopy, and density functional theory. This dissociation takes place on lattice sites of the defect-free surface. While the In₂O₃(111)-(1 × 1) surface offers four types of surface oxygen atoms (12 atoms per unit cell in total), water dissociation happens exclusively at one of them together with a neighboring pair of 5-fold coordinated In atoms. These O–In groups are symmetrically arranged around the 6-fold coordinated In atoms at the surface. At room temperature, the In₂O₃(111) surface thus saturates at three dissociated water molecules per unit cell, leading to a well-ordered hydroxylated surface with (1 × 1) symmetry, where the three water OWH groups plus the surface OSH groupsmore » are imaged together as one bright triangle in STM. Manipulations with the STM tip by means of voltage pulses preferentially remove the H atom of one surface OSH group per triangle. The change in contrast due to strong local band bending provides insights into the internal structure of these bright triangles. The experimental results are further confirmed by quantitative simulations of the STM image corrugation.« less

Authors:

Wagner, Margareta  ^[1];

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Lackner, Peter ^[1]; Seiler, Steffen ^[2]; Brunsch, Achim ^[2]; Bliem, Roland ^[1]; Gerhold, Stefan ^[1]; Wang, Zhiming  ^[1];

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Osiecki, Jacek ^[3]; Schulte, Karina ^[3]; Boatner, Lynn A. ^[4]; Schmid, Michael ^[1]; Meyer, Bernd  ^[2];

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Diebold, Ulrike  ^[1]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Institute of Applied Physics, TU Wien, Wiedner Hauptstraße 8-10/134, 1040 Vienna, Austria
2. Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials and Computer-Chemistry-Center, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nägelsbachstraße 25, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
3. MAX IV Laboratory, Lund University, Ole Römers väg 1, 223 63 Lund, Sweden
4. Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States

Publication Date:

2017-11-08

Research Org.:

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

OSTI Identifier:

1408068

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1421789; OSTI ID: 1426584

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

ACS Nano

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: ACS Nano Journal Volume: 11 Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 1936-0851

Publisher:

American Chemical Society

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; density functional theory; hydroxylation; indium oxide; scanning tunneling microscopy; water dissociation