"Magic" vicinal zinc oxide surfaces

The structure of (0001) oriented ZnO single crystal surfaces is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. Depending on the preparation conditions, faceting of the crystals into large areas of {101¯4} surface orientation occurs. This restructuring of the surface is shown to be a consequence of dipole compensation and charge neutralization. A new stabilization mechanism of polar oxide surfaces is found which is based on the formation of vicinal surfaces with special electronic and structural properties.