{"paper":{"title":"The Unreconstructed {\\alpha}-Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$(0001) Surface is Inhomogeneous and Rough","license":"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","headline":"","cross_cats":["physics.chem-ph"],"primary_cat":"cond-mat.mtrl-sci","authors_text":"Andrea Conti, David Kugler, Florian Mittendorfer, Jan Balajka, Johanna I. H\\\"utner-Reisch, Michael Schmid, Ulrike Diebold","submitted_at":"2026-03-27T09:25:45Z","abstract_excerpt":"Alumina (Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$) is a key material for thin-film growth and heterogeneous catalysis, where the atomic surface structure critically impacts performance. Using noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM) combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we challenge the common assumption that the unreconstructed $\\alpha$-Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$(0001) surface is atomically flat and uniformly Al-terminated. This widely accepted bulk termination satisfies polarity compensation requirements but results in highly undercoordinated surface Al cations at the surface. Despite substantial inwar"},"claims":{"count":0,"items":[],"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"source":{"id":"2603.26201","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"verdict":{"id":null,"model_set":{},"created_at":null,"strongest_claim":"","one_line_summary":"","pipeline_version":null,"weakest_assumption":"","pith_extraction_headline":""},"integrity":{"clean":true,"summary":{"advisory":0,"critical":0,"by_detector":{},"informational":0},"endpoint":"/pith/2603.26201/integrity.json","findings":[],"available":true,"detectors_run":[],"snapshot_sha256":"c28c3603d3b5d939e8dc4c7e95fa8dfce3d595e45f758748cecf8e644a296938"},"references":{"count":0,"sample":[],"resolved_work":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}