A scanning probe microscopy study of the (001) surfaces of V2O5 and V6O13

Single crystals of V2O5(001) and V6O13(001) were imaged in ambient conditions by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Atomic-scale resolution images are compared with partial and total electron-density plots of the surface calculated using the extended Huckel tight-binding electronic band-structure method The V2O5(001) surface is terminated by vanadyl O atoms that dominate the contrast in both AFM and STM images. The V6O13(001) surface, on-the other hand, is terminated by a V-O plane and the contrast in both AFM and STM images is dominated by the V atoms.