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The analysis of the electronic surface properties of transition metal oxides being key materials for future nanoelectronics requires a direct characterization of the conductivity with highest spatial resolution. Using local conductivity atomic force microscopy (LC-AFM) we demonstrate the possibility of recording current maps with true atomic resolution. The application of this technique on surfaces of reduced TiO$_2$ and SrTiO$_3$ reveals that the distribution of surface conductivity has a significant localized nature. Assisted by density functional theory (DFT) we propose that the presence of oxygen vacancies in the surface layer of such materials can introduce short range disturbances of electronic structure with confinement of metallic states on the nanoscale.

In this paper, the effect of Ar+ bombardment of SrTiO3:Nb surface layers is investigated on the macro- and nanoscale using surface-sensitive methods. After bombardment, the stoichiometry and electronic structure are changed distinctly leading to an insulator-to-metal transition related to the change of the Ti "d" electron from d0 to d1 and d2. During bombardment, conducting islands are formed on the surface. The induced metallic state is not stable and can be reversed due to a redox process by external oxidation and even by self-reoxidation upon heating the sample to temperatures of 300{\deg}C., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures