Abstract: The growth mode and interfacial interaction of Cu nanoparticles on the ordered ZrO₂(111) thin film surfaces have been studied by low energy electron diffraction, synchrotron radiation photoemission spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The ZrO₂(111) thin film was grown on Pt(111) using the molecular beam epitaxy technique. At room temperature, copper initially grows two-dimensionally on the ZrO₂(111) thin film up to 0.15 monolayer (ML), followed by three-dimensional islanding. The binding energy of Cu 2p_3/2 increases with decreasing the Cu coverage, owing to the contribution from both the initial-state and final-state effects. The interaction between Cu and ZrO₂ leads to the charge transfer from Cu to the ZrO₂ substrate, which causes the appearance of Cu(I) state. Above 1 ML, Cu becomes metallic state on ZrO₂.

Key words: copper, zirconia, low energy electron diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, synchrotron radiation photoemission spectroscopy, interfacial interaction, initial-state effect, final-state screening