Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Epitaxial films of NbxTi1−xO2 rutile were grown on TiO2 (110) and (100) at 600 °C by oxygen-plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy using elemental Ti and Nb sources. The epitaxial films were characterized by means of reflection high-energy and low-energy electron diffraction (RHEED/LEED), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and diffraction (XPS/XPD), ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The epitaxial films grow in a layer-by-layer fashion and have excellent short- and long-range structure order at x≤0.3 on TiO2(110) and at x≤0.15 on TiO2(100). However, the epitaxial films become rough and disorder at higher doping levels. Nb substitutionally incorporates at cation lattice sites, leading to NbxTi1−xO2 solid solutions. In addition, the oxidation state of Nb in the NbxTi1−xO2 films has been determined to be +4.