AVS 54th International Symposium
    Surface Science Tuesday Sessions
       Session SS-TuP

Paper SS-TuP23
High Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy on the Ion Conducting Material YSZ(111)

Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 6:00 pm, Room 4C

Session: Surface Science Poster Session
Presenter: M. Batzill, University of South Florida
Authors: A.J. Carter, University of South Florida
J. Lahiri, University of South Florida
M. Batzill, University of South Florida
Correspondent: Click to Email

Most STM studies are performed on samples with good electron conductivity. Here we demonstrate STM measurements on the ion conductor yttrium stabilized zirconia (YSZ) at elevated temperatures. YSZ is the prototypical solid electrolyte that finds applications as an ion conductor for solid fuel cells and in gas sensing applications. In spite of these important technological applications the fundamental surface properties of ZrO2 are not well investigated. The wide band gap (>5eV) of zirconia and its poor electron conductivity hamper surface studies. Here we show that at elevated temperatures of about 600 K the ion conductivity is high enough to enable scanning tunneling microscopy investigations of this material and thus open the door for the investigation of the surface and defect structure at the atomic scale.