Cleaving-temperature dependence of layered-oxide surfaces

TL;DR

This study reveals that the surface quality of layered oxides like Sr2RuO4 depends on cleaving temperature, with higher temperatures increasing defect density, which impacts surface analysis and interfacial control.

Contribution

It demonstrates that cleaving temperature influences defect formation on layered-oxide surfaces, challenging the assumption of ideal surfaces in spectroscopic studies.

Findings

Higher cleave temperatures lead to increased mesoscopic defect density.

Surface lattice parameters and symmetries remain unaffected by cleaving temperature.

Defect density variations have broad implications for oxide surface analysis.

Abstract

The surfaces generated by cleaving non-polar, two-dimensional oxides are often considered to be perfect or ideal. However, single particle spectroscopies on Sr2RuO4, an archetypal non-polar two dimensional oxide, show significant cleavage temperature dependence. We demonstrate that this is not a consequence of the intrinsic characteristics of the surface: lattice parameters and symmetries, step heights, atom positions, or density of states. Instead, we find a marked increase in the density of defects at the mesoscopic scale with increased cleave temperature. The potential generality of these defects to oxide surfaces may have broad consequences to interfacial control and the interpretation of surface sensitive measurements.