Laser control of the kinetics of the heterogeneous oxidation of metals

The effect of the photoionization of intrinsic lattice defects on metal oxidation rates is investigated theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that the photoionization of lattice defects, which are responsible for the mass transfer of reacting components across the oxide film, can either increase or decrease the metal oxidation rate, depending on the nature of the oxide, the oxide film thickness, and the temperature gradient. Experimental results are presented for polished copper and cobalt targets oxidized under nonisothermal and isothermal conditions. The results support the qualitative conclusions of the theoretical study and show that the kinetics of heterogeneous oxidation of metal targets can be effectively controlled by laser irradiation.