Electron traps on oxide surfaces: (H+)(e(-)) pairs stabilized on the surface of O-17 enriched CaO

(H+)(e(-)) pairs generated at the surface of polycrystalline CaO are analyzed for the first time in terms of the interaction of the unpaired electron spin with the nuclear spin of the O-17 anions of the surface. CaO crystals enriched in the O-17 isotope are prepared and the corresponding hyperfine coupling constants are measured in electron paramagentic resonance (EPR) spectra. The results are analyzed on the basis of cluster model density functional theory calculations. The computed hyperfine coupling constants for (H+)(e(-)) pairs formed on the edge, corner, and reverse corner sites of the CoO surface allow a tentative assignment of two observed spectral features to specific morphological surface sites.