Hexagonal barium titanate stabilized as ultra-thin film on Pt(111): an X-ray diffraction and electron energy-loss spectroscopy study

Bariumtitanate (BaTiO 3 ) is one of the most intensely studied oxides. Besides the perovskite-(PV) type phases, a high-temperature hexagonal (h) phase exists, which is stable above 1705 K. The h-type structure is distinctly different from the PV-type, as it contains TiO 6 octahedra linked by common faces rather than by common corners. Many attempts have been made to stabilize h-BaTiO 3 at ambient conditions, but thus far only a mixture of PV-htype (17%) BaTiO 3 could be obtained in crystals of 140 nm in size [1].