RT Journal Article
T1 Characterization of surface metallic states in SrTiO_(3) by means of aberration corrected electron microscopy
A1 Sánchez Santolino, Gabriel
A1 Tornos Castillo, Javier
A1 Cuéllar Jiménez, Fabian Andrés
A1 Bruno, Flavio Yair
A1 León Yebra, Carlos
A1 Santamaría Sánchez-Barriga, Jacobo
A1 Pennycook. Stephen, 
A1 Varela Del Arco, María
AB An unusual conducting surface state can be produced in SrTiO3 substrates by irradiation with Argon ions from a plasma source, at low energy and high doses. The effects of irradiation are analyzed here by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) combined with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Depth sensitive studies demonstrate the existence of a heavily damaged surface layer and an oxygen vacancy rich layer immediately underneath, both induced during the irradiation process. We find a clear dependence of the Ti oxidation state with the depth, with a very intense Ti3+ component near the surface. Oxygen vacancies act as n-type doping by releasing electrons into the lattice and producing an insulator-to-metal transition, which explains the unusual metallic behavior of these samples.
PB Elsevier 
SN 0304-3991
YR 2013
FD 2013
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/99400
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/99400
LA eng
NO Sánchez-Santolino, G., Tornos, J., Bruno, F. Y., Cuellar, F. A., Leon, C., Santamaría, J., ... & Varela, M. (2013). Characterization of surface metallic states in SrTiO3 by means of aberration corrected electron microscopy. Ultramicroscopy, 127, 109-113.
NO US Department of Energy 
NO European Commission
DS Docta Complutense
RD 8 abr 2025