STM studies on the growth of monolayers: Co on Cu(110) with one half monolayer of preadsorbed oxygen

The growth of the first cobalt monolayer (ML) on the Cu(110)-(2 x 1)O surface was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy. Extensive exchange of Cu and Co atoms takes place in the first stages of the deposition. The displaced Cu atoms form new Cu-O-Co mixed islands, with the same structure as those of the terrace surface. At similar to 0.25 ML Co, a new structure nucleates, which contains three Cu atoms, four Co atoms and two O atoms per 2 x 2 cell. The structure consists of rows in the [110] direction with an internal periodicity of two lattice units. The rows are separated from one another by two lattice units along the [001] direction, and are found both in-phase and out-of-phase relative to one another. The result is a mixed p(2 x 2) and c(2 x 4) surface. The fraction of the surface covered by the new structure increases with Co coverage, and completely covers the surface at similar to 1 ML Co. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.