Structural investigation of the LaAlO3(110) surface

Chemical and structural characterizations of the LaAlO3(110) surface was investigated by XPS, XPD, LEED and RHEED. The atomic structure of this ternary alloy, can be viewed as a superposition of LaO and AlO2 planes in the [001] direction. For clean substrates, a c(4 x 2) surface reconstruction was pointed out by RHEED and LEED. Polar X-ray photoelectron diffraction investigations made in the [- 110] azimuthal direction, for La3d, O1s and Al2score levels reveal well structured diagrams reflecting the atomic distribution of the two kinds of parallel planes in the [- 110] direction and perpendicular to the (110) surface. The main crystallographic directions give strong forward-scattering peaks at 0o, 35o and 54.7o corresponding to the [110], [111] and [112] directions respectively