Structure of singly terminated polar DyScO 3 (110) surfaces

We have studied the polar surface of singly terminated DyScO 3 (110) crystals by reflective high-energy electron diffraction, surface x-ray diffraction and angle-resolved mass spectroscopy of recoiled ions. These techniques show that the surfaces are (1 × 1) reconstructed, which points to the absence of ordered cation vacancies at the surface. The best surfaces were obtained after a selective chemical wet etch. We suggest that for ScO 2 terminated surfaces, adsorbates, or oxygen vacancies are most likely to occur in order to overcome the polarity difference between stoichiometric bulk crystal and vacuum. © 2012 American Physical Society.