Growth, structure and electronic properties of ultrathin cerium oxide films grown on Pt(111)

• Published in: Thin solid films 2011-03, Vol.519 (11), p.3752-3755
• Main Authors: Breinlich, Christian, Essen, Jan Markus, Barletta, Enrico, Wandelt, Klaus
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Band spectra; Ceria; Cerium; Cerium oxide; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Diffraction; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Exact sciences and technology; Film thickness; Islands; Materials science; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Oxide coatings; Physics; Platinum; Scanning tunneling microscopy; Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy; Spectra; Structure and morphology; thickness; Surface and interface electron states; Surface states, band structure, electron density of states; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Theory and models of film growth; Thin film structure and morphology; Ultrathin oxide films
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2011.01.353

Ultrathin cerium oxide films have been prepared by oxidizing Ce-Pt/Pt(111) surface alloys with 65 L O2 at 900K. According to low electron energy diffraction data, phonon spectra recorded by high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy measurements the films are of fluorite-type CeO2(111) structure. They grow three dimensionally as islands, which are flat and up to several hundred square nanometers large. The film thickness varies between one and five layers. The band gap of the oxide films has been probed by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and turned out to be significantly smaller than for bulk CeO2.