Abstract: Perovskites are versatile materials with applications in electronics, catalysis or photovoltaics. While bulk properties of perovskites are widely studied, most applications rely on the materials surfaces, which possess distinctly different physical and chemical properties. The investigation of perovskite surfaces is challenging due to the ternary composition of the material and frequent presence of ferroelectricity, which changes the widely accepted rules for the atomic arrangement of surface ions.
The talk will focus on the investigation of perovskite surfaces at the atomic scale by noncontact atomic force microscopy and scanning tunnelling microscopy, mainly focusing on SrTiO3, KTaO3 and BaTiO3. The rules for surface structure will be discussed, as well as the behaviour of charge carriers and relation to surface chemical properties.
The seminar will be chaired by Hynek Němec, Department of Dielectrics.