Epitaxial electrodeposition of copper(I) oxide on single-crystal gold(100)

Epitaxial electrodeposition was used to crystallize a 0.5 mu m thick film of Cu2O onto single-crystal Au(100) from an alkaline copper lactate solution at room temperature. The film showed strong out-of-plane and in-plane orientation, with no rotation of the respective crystallographic directions of the Cu2O overlayer relative to the Au substrate. The technique should be amenable to the deposition of other metal oxides, allowing the simple and inexpensive selection of surfaces that show high catalytic activity or crystallographic directions that have desired electrical or magnetic properties.