Structure of two-dimensional FeO.

We have investigated the structure of an ultrathin iron oxide phase grown on Ag(100) using surface x-ray diffraction in combination with Hubbard-corrected density functional theory (DFT+U) calculations. The film exhibits a novel structure composed of one close-packed layer of octahedrally coordinated Fe sandwiched between two close-packed layers of tetrahedrally coordinated Fe and an overall stoichiometry of FeO. As the structure is distinct from bulk iron oxide phases and the coupling with the silver substrate is weak, we propose that the phase should be classified as a metastable two-dimensional oxide. The chemical and physical properties are potentially interesting, thanks to the predicted charge ordering between atomic layers, and analogy with bulk ferrite spinels suggests the possibility of synthesis of a whole class of two-dimensional ternary oxides with varying electronic, optical, and chemical properties.