Surface physical studies of poly- and single-crystalline BaTiO3

We have studied polycrystalline and single-crystalline faces in 100.and 111.orientation of BaTiO3. As main methods we used scanning tunnelling microscopy STM.and low energy electron diffraction LEED.to obtain information on the morphology and the atomic structure of the surfaces. For the polycrystalline samples, the grain boundaries could be imaged by STM. LEED showed the formation of reconstructions not yet described in the literature. Using STM, we were able to image ferroelectric domains by the structural modulation of the surface. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.