Oxygen adatoms at SrTiO3(0 0 1): A density-functional theory study

We present a density-functional theory study addressing the energetics and electronic structure properties of isolated oxygen adatoms at the SrTiO₃(0 0 1) surface. Together with a surface lattice oxygen atom, the adsorbate is found to form a peroxide-type molecular species. This gives rise to a non-trivial topology of the potential energy surface for lateral adatom motion, with the most stable adsorption site not corresponding to the one expected from a continuation of the perovskite lattice. With computed modest diffusion barriers below 1 eV, it is rather the overall too weak binding at both regular SrTiO₃(0 0 1) terminations that could be a critical factor for oxide film growth applications.