Chapter 18
Four-Stage Cu 3 O 2 Bonding Dynamics
Abstract VLLED has enabled quantification of the four-stage Cu 3 O 2 pairingtetrahedra formation in the Cu(001) surface transiting from O
− to O
2− with production of the missing rows, Cu-O-Cu chains, oppositely paired Cu
p crossing the
missing rows. The surface stress turns from tensile in the O
− derived first phase to
the O
2− derived second phase. The phase transition dynamics is beyond the scope of
computations from the perspective of total energy minimization or structural optimization. Annealing relaxes the Cu 3 O 2 bond geometry, the SPB, and the valence
states accordingly while heating at a dull-red color de-hybridizes the sp orbits of
oxygen, desorption will occur at higher temperatures.
Highlights
• Transition from O
−1 to O
−2 proceeds in four discrete stages with involvement of
top two atomic layers.
• O
−1 prefers the apical site of an off-centred pyramid and polarizes its nearest
neighbours.
• Second O-Cu bond forms to a Cu underneath with missing-row formation and
geometry relaxation.
• The lone pairs of Cu 3 O 2 couple oppositely the Cu
p dipoles cross over the missing
row.
18.1 Exposure-Resolved VLEED: Four-Stage Reaction
Kinetics
The most striking challenge in studying oxygen chemisorption is the kinetics of
bond formation. Numerous scientists have devoted to resolving this issue in the past
century. The invention of the STM/S has propelled the progress with visulization
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
C. Q. Sun, Electron and Phonon Spectrometrics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3176-7_18
347
Four-Stage Cu 3 O 2 Bonding Dynamics
Abstract VLLED has enabled quantification of the four-stage Cu 3 O 2 pairingtetrahedra formation in the Cu(001) surface transiting from O
− to O
2− with production of the missing rows, Cu-O-Cu chains, oppositely paired Cu
p crossing the
missing rows. The surface stress turns from tensile in the O
− derived first phase to
the O
2− derived second phase. The phase transition dynamics is beyond the scope of
computations from the perspective of total energy minimization or structural optimization. Annealing relaxes the Cu 3 O 2 bond geometry, the SPB, and the valence
states accordingly while heating at a dull-red color de-hybridizes the sp orbits of
oxygen, desorption will occur at higher temperatures.
Highlights
• Transition from O
−1 to O
−2 proceeds in four discrete stages with involvement of
top two atomic layers.
• O
−1 prefers the apical site of an off-centred pyramid and polarizes its nearest
neighbours.
• Second O-Cu bond forms to a Cu underneath with missing-row formation and
geometry relaxation.
• The lone pairs of Cu 3 O 2 couple oppositely the Cu
p dipoles cross over the missing
row.
18.1 Exposure-Resolved VLEED: Four-Stage Reaction
Kinetics
The most striking challenge in studying oxygen chemisorption is the kinetics of
bond formation. Numerous scientists have devoted to resolving this issue in the past
century. The invention of the STM/S has propelled the progress with visulization
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
C. Q. Sun, Electron and Phonon Spectrometrics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3176-7_18
347