Adsorption at copper oxide island edges

The adsorption of both CO and Ar at the edges of ⋯CuOCuO⋯ striped islands on Cu(110) has been directly detected. Time of flight separation of ions and excited neutrals with different masses permitted the simultaneous detection of the ESDIAD patterns of O+ from the oxide stripe regions, and CO+ and CO∗ from CO coadsorbed on the striped O(2×1)-Cu(110) structure. At 80 K, a strong interaction of the CO molecules with oxygen atoms situated at the stripe edges was inferred from the decrease of the O+ ion signal originating from these sites. At 67 K CO molecules physisorbed on top of the oxide stripes also have been imaged. A similar experiment involving Ar atoms has been performed on the striped oxidized Cu(110) surface at 32 K. The Ar atoms are trapped only at the oxide stripe edges at this temperature and also strongly quench O+ emission from the stripe edges.