Preferred Orientation of Cu_2O Nano-/Micro-Protrusions Grown by Ar Ion Irradiation

摘要

We have developed a bottom-up growth technology for nanostructures from a Cu surface by Ar ion irradiation. Cu_2O conical nano-/micro-protrusions have been nucleated and grown from the surface of a preoxidized Cu plate by Ar ion irradiation in low vacuum. In this study, the growth direction or preferred orientation of the protrusions was analysed using glancing angle X-ray diffraction (GAXRD) analysis and an X-ray diffraction pole figure (XRD-PF) measurement. The GAXRD patterns showed that the main phase of the product obtained by Ar irradiation was Cu_2O, shown as the highest peak of Cu_2O (111), and CuO was additionally formed. The intensity ratio of Cu_2O (110) to Cu_2O (111) increased as the X-ray incident angle decreased from 10.0 to 0.5 deg, which indicated that the basal plane of the protrusions including the substrate was (110). Additionally, the XRD-PF {011}<001> 3-D plots showed the <110> preferred orientation of the product. These results explain that the growth direction or preferred orientation of the Cu_2O protrusions is mainly <110>. The growth direction of the protrusions was separated and confirmed as <110> by checking the electron backscatter diffraction pattern (EBSP) of each protrusion.