The titanium dioxide (110) surface: Structure, reactivity, and metal/oxide interfaces

In order to understand the surface physical and chemical properties of oxides, we have studied TiO{dollar}sb2{dollar}(110) as a model oxide surface, using multiple ultrahigh vacuum surface science techniques. The investigation includes the properties of clean TiO{dollar}sb2{dollar}(110) surfaces with different surface defect densities, the adsorption of oxygen and water on TiO{dollar}sb2{dollar} surfaces with different surface defects densities, and the growth of ultrathin 3d-metal films on TiO{dollar}sb2{dollar}.; The combination of Low Energy Ion Scattering (LEIS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) enables us to quantitatively measure the TiO{dollar}sb2{dollar} surface oxygen vacancies, and their reactivity with water. The growth of ultrathin metal (Cr, Fe and Cu) films on TiO{dollar}sb2{dollar}(110) surfaces and the changes in surface electronic structure due to metal deposition have also been studied. A trend in ultrathin film growth is observed in this systematic study, namely the wetting ability of 3d-transition metals on TiO{dollar}sb2{dollar}(110) is strongly correlated to the strength of the metal-oxygen bond.; The geometric structures of TiO{dollar}sb2{dollar}(110) and ultrathin metal films on TiO{dollar}sb2{dollar} are investigated using Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED), Medium Energy backscattered Electron Diffraction (MEED) and Angle-Resolved XPS (ARXPS).