It was recalled that the controlled generation of oxygen vacancies in the surface of ferroelectric thin films was crucial to the study of how surface reduction affected molecular adsorption and catalysis of gas–surface phenomena. The effective reduction in the surface of 4% niobium doped 20/80 thin films was demonstrated. The sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, and heated at 200, 250 and 300C in a high vacuum system at 10−5T of H2. Auger peak-to-peak intensities was used to study the elemental concentrations during the reduction experiment. High-resolution X-ray photo-electron spectra were acquired before and after reduction process for detecting the changes of the oxygen signal. Vacancies production rates as slow as 0.21% per minute were achieved and the temperature was not a key parameter in the process. Experiments at higher hydrogen pressures and lower temperatures might improve the control of the vacancies production.

Generation of Oxygen Vacancies in the Surface of Ferroelectric Pb(Nb,Zr,Ti)O3. E.Ramos-Moore, D.E.Diaz-Droguett, P.Spring, J.T.Evans, A.L.Cabrera: Applied Surface Science, 2011, 257[10], 4695-8