Doping and oxidation effects under ambient conditions in copper surfaces: a “real-life” CuBe surface

Abstract

Cu-Based materials are used in a variety of industrial applications from mechanics to electronics; thus, it is important to know the mechanisms occurring at their surfaces under ambient conditions. We investigate the CuBe surface by using a combination of soft X-ray spectroscopies, atomic force microscopy and first-principles calculations. We find that this surface behaves upon oxidation under ambient conditions very similarly to a pure copper surface: the oxidation process under ambient conditions leads to the formation of native Cu₂O, while beryllium does not affect the electronic properties of the substrate. We have also investigated the role of mild annealing in ultra-high vacuum: after annealing, the CuBe surface shows the typical features of a metallic copper surface, with segregation of beryllium at the surface and its on-site oxidization. Our work elucidates the mechanisms leading to the real-life properties of this surface, accounting for its high performance in industrial applications.