The surfaces of perovskite oxides affect their functional properties, and while a bulk-truncated $(1\times 1)$ termination is generally assumed, its existence and stability is controversial. Here, such a surface is created by cleaving the prototypical ${\mathrm{SrTiO}}_3$(001) in ultrahigh vacuum, and its response to thermal annealing is observed. Atomically resolved noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM) shows that intrinsic point defects on the as-cleaved surface migrate at temperatures above $200{}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$. At $400{}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}\text{–}500{}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$, a disordered surface layer forms, albeit still with a $(1\times 1)$ pattern in low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). Purely ${\mathrm{TiO}}_2$-terminated surfaces, prepared by wet-chemical treatment, are also disordered despite their $(1\times 1)$ periodicity in LEED.

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• Fracture
• Surface & interfacial phenomena
• Surface reconstruction
• Perovskites
• Surfaces
• Low-energy electron diffraction
• Noncontact atomic force microscopy
• Scanning tunneling spectroscopy
• X-ray photoelectron diffraction