Oxygen-mediated diffusion of oxygen vacancies on the TiO2(110) surface.

Schaub, Renald; Wahlström, Erik; Rønnau, Anders; Lagsgaard, Erik; Stensgaard, Ivan; Besenbacher, Flemming · Science · 2003

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Defects such as oxygen vacancies play a crucial role in the surface properties of transition metal oxides. By means of time-resolved, high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy, we unraveled an adsorbate-mediated diffusion mechanism of oxygen vacancies on rutile TiO2(110). Adsorbed oxygen molecules mediate vacancy diffusion through the loss of an oxygen atom to a vacancy and the sequential capture of an oxygen atom from a neighboring bridging oxygen row, leading to an anisotropic oxygen vacancy diffusion pathway perpendicular to the bridging oxygen rows.