Nanoscale topographic evolutions of SrTiO3 (001) surfaces

SrTiO3 (001) surfaces are investigated for self-organized nanostructure formations in lowtemperature processes below 800 C. Topographic evolutions are analyzed after chemical etching with buffered HF treatment, dry etching with ion-beam and thermal annealing under high vacuum. The effects of each process are interpreted as chemical cleaving, defect generation, and thermal relaxation, respectively. Through a series of unit processes, self-assembled nanostructures, such as nanoparticles, nanohollowcubes, and step and terrace structures are created. The origin of the nanostructure formation is discussed in terms of pinning of the strain field at naturally or artificially generated defects KCI Citation Count: 5