Relationships between the distribution of O atoms on partially oxidized metal (Al, Ag, Cu, Ti, Zr, Hf) surfaces and the adsorption energy: A density-functional theory study

Abstract

We investigate the oxidation of selected metal (Al, Ag, Cu, Ti, Zr, and Hf) surfaces by the density functional theory. We go through a wide range of (233 per metal) distributions of O atoms on a partially oxidized metal surface. First, we focus on the qualitative information whether the preferred distribution of O atoms is heterogeneous (stoichiometric oxide + metal) or homogeneous (substoichiometric oxide). We find that the former is energetically preferred, e.g., for Al, while the latter is energetically preferred, e.g., for Ti, Zr, and Hf. Second, we provide the quantitative values of adsorption energies corresponding to the energetically preferred O atom distributions for various partial coverages of various metals by O. Third, we discuss and show an example of implications of the aforementioned findings for the understanding and simulations of sputtering.