Formation of copper oxide surface structures via pulse injection of air onto Cu(111) surfaces

C. Pérez León, C. Sürgers, and H. v. Löhneysen
Phys. Rev. B 85, 035434 – Published 20 January 2012

Abstract

We have investigated the Cu(111) surface after controlled injection of air by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). During deposition, the temperature of the copper substrate was kept at room or elevated temperature. AES spectra show that mainly oxygen is adsorbed on the copper surface. STM images display the initial stages of oxidation of Cu(111), which are governed by the restructuring of the surface where Cu atoms from the step edges and terraces are incorporated into the growing surface oxide. The nucleation and growth of the oxide are strongly influenced by the substrate temperature during air injection as well as by the oxygen coverage. Depending on the coverage, different kinds of oxide or oxide-precursor islands are observed. The surface oxides produced at higher temperature exhibit ordered structures, which are ascribed to a strained Cu2O(111) lattice that coincides with the Cu(111) substrate.

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  • Received 27 May 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.035434

©2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

C. Pérez León1,*, C. Sürgers1, and H. v. Löhneysen1,2

  • 1Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Physikalisches Institut and DFG-Center for Functional Nanostructures (CFN), P. O. Box 6980, D-76049 Karlsruhe, Germany
  • 2Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institut für Festkörperphysik, P. O. Box 3640, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

  • *Present address: National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, 305-0047 Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; perezleon.carmen@nims.go.jp

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Vol. 85, Iss. 3 — 15 January 2012

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