Abstract:By the decomposition of copper nitrate at 400℃, oriented islands of copperoxide crystals were successfully fabricated on the amorphous glass surface. X-ray diffraction (XRD), atom force microscope (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirm the presence of copper oxide islands. The formation of oriented island structures is attributed to the following reasons: 1) the mismatch between the glass substrate and the copper oxide crystals during the relaxation of thermal expansion leads to the formation of islands; 2) the preorganized copper nitrate particles in the voids of colloidal crystals determine their ordered spatial distribution; 3) the strain of the glass substrate developing during calcination provides the driven energy for the orientation of copper oxide crystals along the same direction.

Key words: nanoislands; oriented growth; copper oxide; atom force microscope; colloidal crystals