title: Identification of 5-7 defects in a copper oxide surface.
abstract: A topological defect in a Cu(2)O surface oxide grown on Cu(111) has been identified. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we observed the formation of pentagonal and heptagonal rings within the Cu(2)O surface oxide. These structures break the symmetry of the hexagonal oxide surface and are a consequence of the presence of oxygen vacancies in the Cu(2)O surface. We propose that the pentagonal and heptagonal rings are formed through the rotation of a -O-Cu-O- chain in a manner similar to the Stone-Wales transformation. The proposed transformation is supported by the results of density functional theory calculations.
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: YongMan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stacchiola
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hrbek
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
mesh_terms: D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D003300:Copper; C000520:cuprous oxide