Abstract
The oxidation is one of the major corrosion processes of metals. Copper and copper alloys have wide industrial applications, and therefore are of interest for studies of oxidation mechanism, particularly in the Cu2O formation. We proposed the collision-induced absorption (CIA) mechanism for the oxidation of Cu with hyperthermal O2 molecular beam (HOMB) in our early studies. Here, we introduce our recent studies of the oxidation of Cu(410) and Cu(511) stepped surfaces and various Cu3Au surfaces with HOMB. On the Cu stepped surface, we discuss the role of defects on the CIA mechanism in the oxidation. The Cu-Au alloys are an ideal system for investigating the formation of protective layer against further oxidation into bulk. On the various Cu3Au surfaces, we demonstrate how the protective layer against the CIA oxidation is formed. Finally, we introduce shortly the steric effects in the reaction of NO on Si(111).
