Anomalous potential dependence in homoepitaxial Cu(001) electrodeposition: an in situ surface x-ray diffraction study

Homoepitaxial Cu electrodeposition on Cu(001) in chloride-containing electrolyte was studied by time-resolved in situ surface x-ray diffraction at growth rates up to 38 ML/ min. With increasing Cu electrode potential, transitions from step-flow to layer-by-layer and then to multilayer growth are observed. This potential dependence is opposite to that expected theoretically and found experimentally for the Au(001) homoepitaxial electrodeposition [K. Krug et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 246101 (2006)]. The anomalous behavior is rationalized by a decisive influence of the ordered c(2 × 2)-Cl adlayer on the surface energy landscape, specifically on the effective change in dipole moment during adatom diffusion.