Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T23:39:43.279Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Fluctuation Microscopy Studies Of Aluminum Oxides Exposed To CL Ions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2011

Xidong Chen
Affiliation:
Cedarville University, Cedarville, OH 45314 & Materials Science Division, Argonne National, Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439
John Sullivan
Affiliation:
Sandia National Lab, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185–1421
Charles Barbour
Affiliation:
Sandia National Lab, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185–1421
Craig Johnson
Affiliation:
Sandia National Lab, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185–1421
Guangwen Zhou
Affiliation:
Univ of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Judith Yang
Affiliation:
Univ of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Get access

Abstract

Fluctuation electron microscopy studies have been performed on several aluminum oxides exposed to different electrochemical conditions. Little is known about amorphous aluminum oxide structures and their relationship with their passivation behaviors. Corrosion studies have shown that exposure of aluminum oxide films to Cl ions in solution reduces the oxide's passivity, and this results in the onset of pitting corrosion. The physical changes that occur in the oxide as a result of Cl exposure have not been previously identified due to the difficulty in investigating the structure of this amorphous material. Fluctuation microscopy is a new electron microscopy technique that is able to detect the presence of medium range order structures in amorphous systems. In this paper, we will report fluctuation microscopy results on amorphous aluminum oxides that have been exposed to Cl ions in solution and compare them with oxides that have seen no electrolyte exposure or that have been exposed to electrolytes that do not contain Cl-,such as SO42- containing electrolytes. We will also compare the Cl-exposed oxides with oxides that have been implanted with Cl ions. The differences in pitting behaviors for these oxidesare consistent with our previous speculation on the effect of medium range order on the passivation behavior of aluminum oxides grown using ozone.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Gurvitch, M., Washington, M. A., and Huggins, H. A., Appl. Phys. Lett., 42, 472 (1983).Google Scholar
2. Moodera, J. S., Kinder, L. R., Wong, T. M., and Meservey, R., Phys. Rev. Lett., 74, 3273 (1995).Google Scholar
3. Jones, D.A., “Principles and Prevention of Corrosion”, 2nd Ed., Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ (1996).Google Scholar
4. Elliot, S. R., “Physics of Amorphous Materials”, Longman Scientific & Technical, 1990.Google Scholar
5. Goodman, J.W. “Statistical Properties of Laser Speckle Patterns”, in “Laser Speckle and Related Phenomena”, Editor: Dainty, J.C., Springer-Verlag, 1984.Google Scholar
6. Gibson, J. M. and Treacy, M.M.J., “Diminished Medium-Range Order Observed in Annealed Amorphous Germanium”, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 78, pp. 1074, February 1997.Google Scholar
7. Chen, Xidong, Murray Gibson, J., Sullivan, John and Friedmann, Tom, “Medium-range order structures of amorphous diamond-like carbon films”, Symposium W, Materials Research Society Spring meeting, April 16 –20, 2001 Google Scholar