Open Access

M. J. Montenegro, T. Lippert, S. Müller, Anke Weidenkaff, A. Wokaun

• This chapter discusses thin epitaxial oxide films as model systems for electrocatalysts. Metal oxides (ABO3) often adopt the perovskite structure. The cubic modification of this material is referred to as “ideal perovskite” and has a unit cell edge of approximately 4Å. Distortions from the cubic symmetry produce tetragonal, orthorhombic, and rhombohedral structures. The physical properties of the perovskite-type materials, such as ferroelectric, dielectric, pyroelectric, and piezoelectric behavior, can depend on the cation ordering, anion vacancies, and changes in the structural dimensionality. The perovskite structure is considered one of the most important structure classes in material science because of exceptional physical and chemical properties. Various techniques, such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and pulsed laser deposition (PLD), have been used to deposit thin films. The main advantage of PLD is the flexibility to control differentThis chapter discusses thin epitaxial oxide films as model systems for electrocatalysts. Metal oxides (ABO3) often adopt the perovskite structure. The cubic modification of this material is referred to as “ideal perovskite” and has a unit cell edge of approximately 4Å. Distortions from the cubic symmetry produce tetragonal, orthorhombic, and rhombohedral structures. The physical properties of the perovskite-type materials, such as ferroelectric, dielectric, pyroelectric, and piezoelectric behavior, can depend on the cation ordering, anion vacancies, and changes in the structural dimensionality. The perovskite structure is considered one of the most important structure classes in material science because of exceptional physical and chemical properties. Various techniques, such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and pulsed laser deposition (PLD), have been used to deposit thin films. The main advantage of PLD is the flexibility to control different parameters, which allows an optimization of the deposition conditions. To minimize the limitations, some modifications to the traditional PLD have been developed, such as aurora-PLD, magnetic-field PLD, and pulsed reactive crossed-beam laser ablation (PRCLA).…