Control of the initial oxidation on Cu(001) surface by selection of translational energy of O2 molecules

In the initial oxidation of Cu(001) by O2, the surface is oxidized in a layer-by-layer manner up to one monolayer, followed by Cu2O islanding. The layer-by-layer oxidation is promoted by the increasing translational energy of incident O2 and is insensitive to surface temperature. By contrast, the formation of Cu2O is promoted by the decreasing translational energy of incident O2 and by increasing surface temperature in the temperature range between room temperature and 650 K. Our results demonstrate controllable initial oxidation by the adjustment of the translational energy of O2, offering the prospect of using this approach to aid in the development of new fabrication of metal oxide and Si devices.