Structure of Reconstructed Cu(100) Surface Induced by Dissociative Adsorption of Gaseous Oxygen

The reconstructed structures of Cu(100) surface induced by O₂ dissociative adsorption wereinvestigated by low energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy. At lower oxygen coverage, it was found that two reconstructed structures, i.e. c(2×2)-O and (√2×2√2)R45°-O are coexistent. The domain size of the c(2×2)-O structure decreased with the increasing of O₂ exposure. The reconstructed structure at very small coverage was also investigated and a “zigzag” structure was observed at this stage. The “zigzag” structure was identified as boundaries of local c(2×2) domains. It was found that the strip region shows much stronger molecule-substrate interaction than that of oxygen covered regions, making it a proper template for patterned organic films. The sequence of the thermal stability was found as zigzag structure>c(2×2)>(√2×2√2)R45°-O.