Abstract
Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) was grown on SrTiO3 (STO)(100) by oxygen plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy. The microstructure of the grownlayer and the Cu valence state were analysed using x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photo-electronspectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and cross-sectional transmission electronmicroscopy (TEM) as well as electron diffraction. The grown layer was dominated by theCu2O phase, possessing an epitaxial orientation of and with respect to the substrate. The morphology of theCu2O film shows a dependence on the growth rate. Typically, fast growth will leadto the formation of a thin film with a relatively smooth surface. Slow growthwill lead to the development of nanoparticles, featuring the formation ofCu2O pyramids. The pyramids are invariantly defined by theCu2O{111} planes. Given the fact that the {111} planes correspond to the lowest surface energy ofCu2O, slow growth will give the system enough time to allow it to adopt the pyramidconfiguration by which the overall energy of the system is minimized.
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