LiNbO3 (LN) is a substrate material used extensively for various optical or piezoelectric devices. We investigated an atomic-scale smoothing process of a LN single-crystal (0001) surface. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) observation revealed a surface morphology flattened from threefold symmetry to a step-terrace structure. The marked change of the surface was found to be dominated by a balance of surface diffusion and crystal growth within a period of 1–5 hours. An atomically flat surface with a straight and single-step height of 0.22 nm was obtained for a conventional LN substrate on the market. Next, we evaluated the surface composition and structure of the atomically flat LN (0001) surface by coaxial-impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy (CAICISS). We found that the atomically smoothed surface was terminated by a Nb atomic layer in which the Nb atoms were not shifted from the bulk position.
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Saito et al. (2004) studied this question.
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