Low-Temperature Oxidation of Cu(100), Cu(110) and Cu(111)

To better understand the oxidation kinetics of Cu, the oxidation kinetics of Cu(111) in the low-temperature range of 313–453 K were studied using spectroscopic ellipsometry. The low-temperature oxidations of Cu(100) and Cu(110) were also investigated and compared against Cu(111). Similar to the kinetics of Cu(111), those of Cu(100) and Cu(110) depend on the oxide thickness, which exhibit logarithmic behavior for oxide thicknesses under 5 nm, cubic behavior in the range of 5–25 nm, and parabolic behavior over 25 nm. A diffusion model was developed to simulate the kinetics of Cu(100), Cu(110) and Cu(111).