AVS 49th International Symposium
    Thin Films Thursday Sessions
       Session TF-ThA

Paper TF-ThA2
The Kinetics of Ultrathin Aluminum Oxide Film Growth on Aluminides

Thursday, November 7, 2002, 2:20 pm, Room C-101

Session: Ultra Thin Films
Presenter: J.F. Moore, Argonne National Laboratory
Authors: J.F. Moore, Argonne National Laboratory
A. Zinoviev, Argonne National Laboratory
M.J. Pellin, Argonne National Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
Oxide films grown on metals at high temperature under high vacuum meet the criterion for near-equilibrium growth, since the diffusion rate of atoms in the metal is high enough to prevent kinetically trapped phases from forming. In this study, a number of aluminide single crystal and polycrystalline metals are oxidized at temperatures near their melting point under high vacuum (less than 10@super -5@mBar O@sub 2@). The film growth kinetics are measured continuously with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) during oxidation. Phenomena including surface segregation of intermetallic components, diffusion, nucleation, and island formation are elucidated during these experiments. Self-limited growth of aluminum oxide at 3-5nm was observed in some cases, as well as dramatic reduction in cracking due to thermal cycling or lattice mismatch. This last effect is of considerable interest since compounds with a wide range of bulk properties could be used for a given application rather than a more limited set with the appropriate surface structure. The kinetics of the oxidation process in these studies will be discussed, including critical parameters such as temperature, aluminum concentration, and oxygen dose rate (pressure).