CHEMISTRY AND STRUCTURE OF CDO/AG(222) HETEROPHASE INTERFACES

The atomic scale structure and chemistry of the terminating polar plane of CdO, at atomically clean CdO/Ag{222} interfaces, produced by internal oxidation of a Ag(Cd) alloy, is studied via high-resolution electron (HREM) and atom-probe microscopies. It is demonstrated that this {222} plane can be either O or Cd with equal probability. The HREM and atom-probe results provide evidence for atomic-height steps at the CdO/Ag{222} interface. The results are explained in terms of precipitate coarsening during the internal oxidation process used to prepare the interfaces.