TiO2 rutile single-crystal surfaces have served as useful prototypical, well-defined specimens for fundamental investigations of oxide surface science for many years. As a result of both experimental and theoretical efforts, we have gained considerable insight into the structural, electronic, thermochemical and photochemical properties of pristine as well as defective surfaces. In this brief review, I summarize some of the recent advances that have been made in the laboratories of participants of the International Workshop on Oxide Surfaces (IWOX) series, principally on TiO2(110).KEYWORDS : TiO2, surface defects, adsorbates, epitaxial films, metal overlayers
1.IntroductionThe surface science of metal oxides has experienced explosive growth over the past 15 years as research groups from every continent have gotten involved. Metal oxides represent a very important class of materials. Oxides are unique in the breadth of their properties. This range of properties results not only in fascinating fundamental science issues, but also in potential importance for current and future technologies. No other class of materials exhibits such a wide range of behavior : band gaps spanning the visible and UV ; electronic properties ranging from superconducting to metallic to semiconducting to insulating ; magnetic properties ranging from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic ; and dielectric properties ranging from low-k to ferroelectric and piezoelectric. The technologies of the 21st century will require new materials systems encompassing these properties that are fabricated with a high degree of control. For example, it is clear that UV-based optoelectronics, magnetic tunnel junction, ferroelectric and resistive nonvolatile memory, spintronic devices, and highly effective photocatalytic materials will be of great importance in information, medical, and environmental applications. The rich optical, electronic, magnetic and surface chemical behavior of metal oxides, along with superior chemical and thermal stabilities, uniquely suit these materials for a number of applications for which conventional semiconductors cannot be used. The richness in properties of metal oxides is derived from the inherent chemical and physical complexities of these materials. These complexities include multiple charge states, complex phase diagrams, and vastly different properties among isostructural oxides.The surfaces of oxides are of paramount importance because surfaces determine how these materials interact with the outside world, and are key to forming interfaces with other materials. Oxide surface and interface properties are critical in determining thermal and photochemical response, as well as interface formation to metals, semiconductors, and other oxides. Technological applications are numerous, and include such diverse areas as self cleaning glass, dye sensitization for light harvesting, field effect transistor operation, light emitting diodes for solid state lighting, magnetic exchange bias in magnetoresistive random access memory, and ther...