Evaluation of the Structure Factor of Cuprite and Bonding Chracterisitcs

Abstract

Cu2O is a semiconductor with a band gap of 2.17eV, and its crystal structure is simple cubic. Oxygen atoms form a bcc structure and each oxygen atom is tetrahedrally coordinated by copper atoms, which makes copper linearly coordinated by two oxygen atoms. The structure of cuprite is interesting because the charge state of Cu and oxygen. The most common charge states of Cu is 2+, however, in cuprite for each oxygen there are two Cu atoms which suggest a 1+ charge state of Cu. Charge density of Cu and oxygen are also interesting because of the high Tc superconductors based on copper and oxygen planes and chains. The superconductivity is believed due to the different charge states of copper and/or oxygen in the Cu-oxygen planes due to the doping or oxygen deficiency. by studying the naturally occurring charge states of Cu in Cu2O and CuO, a better understanding of the relationship between structure and bonding can be achieved for the important copper oxides.