In situ oxygen conditioning of /001/ MgO thin film substrates for film growth studies by electron microscopy

It was found that the in situ treatment of 001-plane single-crystal films of MgO (prepared by epitaxial growth from the vapor phase) at high temperatures with a jet of oxygen will produce a surface that is almost equivalent, for epitaxial studies, to surfaces with the same orientation prepared by vacuum cleavage of bulk single crystals. The effectiveness of the process is demonstrated by its impact on the epitaxy of silver.