It has been found that when Cu atoms are deposited on a p(2×l)-O Ag(ll0) surface, a (2×2)p2mg LEED pattern appears. The STM image has proved that zig-zag (-Cu-O-) strings grow along the [110] direction on Ag(ll0) (Fig. I)1, where a chemical reaction of (-Ag-O-) + Cu => (-Cu-O-) + Ag take place. The (-Cu-O-) strings grown on a Ag(l10) surface shows a unique reversible reaction given by an equation of (Cu)6+O2⇄ (-Cu-O-) at 570K. In this paper, we studied the bond property, the growth mechanism and electric structure of the (-Cu-O-) strings on Ag(ll0) by using XPS, HREELS and ARUPS as well as STM.
As increasing the deposition of Cu atoms on a p(2×l)-O Ag(l10) surface, the O(ls) peak in the XPS shifted from 528.2 eV to 529.9 eV(Fig. 2a). An energy loss peak at 41meV being assignable to (Ag-O) bond disappeared and a new loss peak concomitantly appeared at 35 meV in the HREELS (Fig. 2b).