| Abstract
| - The growth of vanadium oxide monolayer films on a vicinal Rh(111) surface has been examined by scanningtunneling microscopy, low-energy electron diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determinethe role of substrate steps on the oxide overlayer structures. While similar local V−O building blocks as onthe flat Rh(111) surface are found on the stepped surface as a function of the chemical potential of oxygen,the effects of the interfacial chemistry of step atoms and of the strain relief at step edges lead to novel oxidestructures that are not observed on the extended (111) surface. Specifically, the high chemical affinity of stepatoms toward oxygen induces a reorientation of pyramidal VO5 units at high chemical potentials of oxygengenerating a unique oblique superstructure near the step edges. For more reducing conditions a (2 × 2) surface-V2O3 phase is formed, which is stabilized by the strain relief at step edges and is therefore not observed onthe flat Rh(111) surface.
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