# SrTiO$_3$ termination control: A method to tailor the oxygen exchange kinetics

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to control surface termination of SrTiO3 to influence oxygen vacancy incorporation, thereby tailoring its surface and interface properties for improved material performance.

## Contribution

A novel approach to manipulate surface termination of SrTiO3, specifically using SrO-termination to control oxygen vacancy incorporation during growth and annealing processes.

## Key findings

- SrO-termination inhibits oxygen vacancy incorporation.
- Surface termination controls oxygen-vacancy related conductivity.
- Method enables tailored interface properties in oxide heterostructures.

## Abstract

We provide insights into the influence of surface termination on the oxygen vacancy incorporation for the perovskite model material SrTiO3 during annealing in reducing gas environments. We present a novel approach to control to tailor the oxygen vacancy formation by controlling the termination. We prove that a SrO-termination can inhibit the incorporation of oxygen vacancies across the (100)-surface and apply this to control their incorporation during thin film growth. Utilizing the conducting interface between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3, we could tailor the oxygen-vacancy based conductivity contribution by the level of SrO termination at the interface.