Growth of TiO2(B)(001) on Au(111) by chemical vapor deposition

This study presents how a TiO2(B) film exposing the (001) face can be grown on Au(111) by chemical vapor deposition. Identification and characterization of the TiO2(B)(001) layer are carried out with low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Formation of the TiO2(B) film requires a two-step preparation procedure: deposition at 280 °C followed by annealing to 500 °C. This suggests that the interaction between a substrate and an overlayer stabilizes the TiO2(B) film, preventing the formation of thermodynamically more stable rutile islands. The study thus gives insight into how the morphology and the atomic structure of the titania overlayer can be controlled.