Probing Surface Defects and Electronic Reconstruction on Nb-Doped SrTiO$_3$ Substrates

Dopants and surface termination quality both perform an incredibly important role in the performance and characteristics of thin films. We have studied the properties of Nb-doped films of SrTiO$_3$ given different surface and annealing treatments including deionized water and buffered HF etching. As a way to characterize these samples, we have performed atomic force microscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, X-Ray photoelectron Spectroscopy, electron transport and capacitance-voltage measurements. We found the annealing treatment to have a significant effect on electron transport through the film, and that the chemical termination of the film varied depending on which treatment was applied.