Novel nanostructuring of the O/Cu(110) surface by reaction to oxygen

We present a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study of the reactivity to oxygen of the O/Cu(110) surface nanostructured with alternating oxidized and clean Cu stripes leading to novel nanostructuring by troughs made of missing top-most Cu atoms. The copper atoms extracted from these troughs are p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Surface science 2012-02, Vol.606 (3-4), p.L26-L30
Main Authors: Poulain, C., Wiame, F., Maurice, V., Marcus, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
COMPOSITES
Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Copper
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
DENSITY
Diffusion mechanism
Exact sciences and technology
Growth mechanism
MICROSTRUCTURES
Nanocomposites
Nanomaterials
Nanostructure
OXIDATION
OXYGEN
Physics
Reactivity
Reconstruction
Scanning tunneling microscopy
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We present a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study of the reactivity to oxygen of the O/Cu(110) surface nanostructured with alternating oxidized and clean Cu stripes leading to novel nanostructuring by troughs made of missing top-most Cu atoms. The copper atoms extracted from these troughs are participating to the added-row reconstruction of the surface. The oxidation of the nanostructured surface proceeds by enlargement of the oxidized stripes and by oxidation of the troughs until the surface is fully covered by oxygen. At saturation, the trough arrangement, templated by the oxygen-free stripes, led to a novel nanostructure of the O/Cu(110) surface made of the (2×1) phase only. A limited influence of the step density was found as the nanostructuration blocks almost all the primary sources of copper atoms at the step edges. In this case, the troughs became the spare source feeding the reconstruction. Careful analysis of the trough distribution in the vicinity of step edges and on terraces shows clear indication of an anisotropic diffusion of the copper adatoms at the surface. ► Nanostructured O/Cu(110) reactivity to oxygen. ► Oxidation leads to novel nanostructuring by trough formation. ► Novel mechanism involves guiding copper atom diffusion between oxidized stripes.
ISSN:0039-6028
1879-2758
DOI:10.1016/j.susc.2011.11.010