Heteroepitaxial layers of ordered cobalt monoxide were prepared on single crystal Cu(111) substrate by two physical deposition methods – reactive physical vapor deposition (PVD) of Co in pure oxygen and by step-wise oxygen plasma oxidation of small Co deposits. Volume and surface-specific diffraction methods were utilized to characterize the structure and orientation of the CoO thin films, the surface morphology of the PVD grown structures was probed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to monitor the chemical state of the samples during preparation stage, as well as during the following thermal treatments up to 700 K. At low oxygen pressures (below 1 × 10⁻⁴ Pa), unlike for some other single crystal surfaces, on Cu(111) only cobalt monoxide phase with rocksalt structure can be established. The resulting CoO thin film exhibits a 3-dimensional mesa-like character with large flat (111) terraces aligned with the (111) face of Cu substrate and shaped by (111) and (100) side facets. The natural surface polarity of the (111) facets of CoO is suggested to be compensated primarily by a presence of aliovalent surface Co³⁺ cations, forming an ultrathin surface spinel-like phase, and surface-bound hydroxyls.

通过两种物理沉积方法在单晶Cu(111) 衬底上制备有序一氧化钴的异质外延层——Co 在纯氧中的反应性物理气相沉积 (PVD) 和通过小 Co 沉积物的逐步氧等离子体氧化。利用体积和表面特异性衍射方法来表征 CoO 薄膜的结构和取向，通过扫描隧道显微镜(STM)探测 PVD ​​生长结构的表面形态。光电子能谱 (XPS) 用于在制备阶段以及随后高达 700 K 的热处理期间监测样品的化学状态。在低氧压力下（低于 1 × 10 ^-4 Pa) 与其他一些单晶表面不同，在 Cu(111) 上只能建立具有岩盐结构的一氧化钴相。得到的 CoO 薄膜表现出 3 维台面状特征，具有与 Cu 衬底的 (111) 面对齐并由 (111) 和 (100) 侧面形成的大平坦 (111) 平台。^{建议 CoO 的 (111) 晶面的自然表面极性主要通过异价表面 Co​​ 3+阳离子}的存在来补偿，形成超薄表面尖晶石状相和表面结合的羟基。