Oxygen mediated stripe-like Cu superstructure on Ru()

A regular and temperature stable new epitaxial superstructure has been obtained. Cu adsorbate grown on Ru ( 1 0 1 ¯ 0 ) surface precovered with 1 ML oxygen is arranged in a stripe-like ( 1 × 5 ) superstructure. The experiment was performed using the scanning tunneling microscopy and low-energy electron diffraction techniques under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. The structure appears after annealing at 850 K when Cu coverages are up to 1 BL. It is resistant to heating up to the temperature of desorption of Cu atoms from the substrate. Features of the superstructure and a relative ease of its formation make the system be of interest to catalysis and further research.