Structural Dynamics of AlO/NiAl(110) During Film Growth in NO.

While continuum descriptions of oxide film growth are well established, the local structural dynamics during oxide growth are largely unexplored. Here, we investigate this using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for the example of alumina film growth on NiAl(110) following NO exposure. To maintain a well-defined system, we have adopted a cyclic growth approach of NO adsorption and annealing.