Formation of titanium monoxide (001) single-crystalline thin film induced by ion bombardment of titanium dioxide (110)

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Abstract
A plethora of technological applications justify why titanium dioxide is probably the most studied oxide, and an optimal exploitation of its properties quite frequently requires a controlled modification of the surface. Low-energy ion bombardment is one of the most extended techniques for this purpose and has been recently used in titanium oxides, among other applications, to favour resistive switching mechanisms or to form transparent conductive layers. Surfaces modified in this way are frequently described as reduced and defective, with a high density of oxygen vacancies. Here we show, at variance with this view, that high ion doses on rutile titanium dioxide (110) induce its transformation into a nanometric and single-crystalline titanium monoxide (001) thin film with rocksalt structure. The discovery of this ability may pave the way to new technical applications of ion bombardment not previously reported, which can be used to fabricate heterostructures and interfaces.

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