Luminescence of the (O2(a(1)Δ(g)))2 collisional complex in the temperature range of 90-315 K: Experiment and theory

Titanium Superoxide as a Carrier of a "Long-Lived" Superoxide Anion: An Ab Initio Investigation

The photoinduced generation of a superoxide anion on the surface of a semiconductor photocatalyst is usually attributed to the reduction of O2 with conduction-band electrons. In the current work, the reaction of TiO2 with O2 giving rise to TiO4 in superoxide and peroxide states has been investigated with ab initio (CAS, CCSD) and DFT (B3LYP) calculations. The ground triplet state and two substates (open-shell singlet (OSS) and closed-shell singlet (CSS)) of a doubly degenerate excited singlet state (a1Δg) are considered as reactive states of oxygen, participating in spontaneous or photoinduced processes, respectively. The triplet and OSS singlet states of TiO4 contain O2- as structural units and can be defined as titanium superoxides. Both states have energy less than the level of the initial pair TiO2+O2 by about 30 kcal/mol. The CSS state of TiO4 has a diperoxide structure Ti4+(O22-)2 and also lies in energy below the initial pair TiO2+3O2. Titanium superoxide is considered to be the carrier of an "exceptionally stable" and "long-lived" superoxide anion, which was earlier synthesized or detected on the surface of TiO2. The low-energy location of the conical intersections on the way from reagents to 3TiO4 allows us to explain the literature data on the spontaneous generation of the "long-lived" superoxide anion on the TiO2 surface.

Plasma Oxidation of Copper: Molecular Dynamics Study with Neural Network Potentials

The formation of thin oxide films is of significant scientific and practical interest. In particular, the semiconductor industry is interested in developing a plasma atomic layer etching process to pattern copper, replacing the dual Damascene process. Using a nonthermal oxygen plasma to convert the metallic copper into copper oxide, followed by a formic acid organometallic reaction to etch the copper oxide, this process has shown great promise. However, the current process is not optimal because the plasma oxidation step is not self-limiting, hampering the degree of thickness control. In the present study, a neural network potential for the binary interaction between copper and oxygen is developed and validated against first-principles calculations. This potential covers the entire range of potential energy surfaces of metallic copper, copper oxides, atomic oxygen, and molecular oxygen. The usable kinetic energy ranges from 0 to 20 eV. Using this potential, the plasma oxidation of copper surfaces was studied with large-scale molecular dynamics at atomic resolution, with an accuracy approaching that of the first principle calculations. An amorphous layer of CuO is formed on Cu, with thicknesses reaching 2.5 nm. Plasma is found to create an intense local heating effect that rapidly dissipates across the thickness of the film. The range of this heating effect depends on the kinetic energy of the ions. A higher ion energy leads to a longer range, which sustains faster-than-thermal rates for longer periods of time for the oxide growth. Beyond the range of this agitation, the growth is expected to be limited to the thermally activated rate. High-frequency, repeated ion impacts result in a microannealing effect that leads to a quasicrystalline oxide beneath the amorphized layer. The crystalline layer slows down oxide growth. Growth rate is fitted to the temperature gradient due to ion-induced thermal agitations, to obtain an apparent activation energy of 1.0 eV. A strategy of lowering the substrate temperature and increasing plasma power is proposed as being favorable for more self-limited oxidation.

Rate constants for collision-induced emission of O2(a1Δg) with He, Ne, Ar, Kr, N2, CO2 and SF6 as collisional partners

Rate constants for singlet oxygen collision induced emission of the a1Δg-X3Σ-g transition at 1.27 μm were measured for CO2, N2, SF6, and rare gases as collisional partners. Photolysis of ozone by 266 nm laser radiation produced singlet oxygen. We performed direct measurements of pressure dependences of the 1.27 μm emission intensity for partner gases. The measured rate constants kMa-X in the units of 10-24 cm3 s-1 are as follows: CO2 - 10 ± 2; N2 - 3.2 ± 0.6; SF6 - 7 ± 1; He - 1.1 ± 0.3; Ne - 1.3 ± 0.3; Ar - 2.8 ± 0.6; Kr - 6 ± 1. The measured values of kMa-X are close to the values calculated from absorption measurements. Considering the known rate constants kMb-a for the b1Σg+-a1Δg transition in the gas phase we found that the ratio kMa-X/kMb-a was constant and independent of a collisional partner according to the "spin-orbit based" mechanism of intensity borrowing proposed by Minaev (THEOCHEM, 1989, 183, 207). However, this ratio amounted to (1.3 ± 0.2) × 10-4, which is considerably lower than the theoretically predicted value of (3-6) × 10-4.