X-ray diffraction study of the ultrathin Al2O3 layer on NiAl110.

Ultrathin Al2O3 layers on alloys are used as templates for model catalysts, tunneling barriers in electronic devices, or corrosion-resistant layers. The complex atomic structure of well-ordered alumina overlayers on NiAl110 was solved by surface x-ray diffraction. The oxide layer is composed of a double layer of strongly distorted hexagonal oxygen ions that hosts aluminum ions on both octahedral and tetrahedral sites with equal probability. The alumina overlayer exhibits a domain structure that can be related to characteristic growth defects and is generated during the growth of a hexagonally ordered overlayer (Al2O3) on a body-centered cubic (110) substrate (NiAl).