Evaluation of atomic oxygen interaction with thin-film aluminum oxide
Abstract
Effects of atomic oxygen on thin film (750 A) sputtered aluminum oxide (Al2O3) were characterized. Experiments were conducted using the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) O-atom facility. Diffusion of O-atoms through the Al2O3 thin films was observed, having an activation energy of 5.2 kcal/mole at an O-atom kinetic energy of 2 eV. Silver oxidation was used as the technique to detect penetration of O-atoms through thin films. The Al2O3 films were deposited on silver (250 A), and the electrical resistance of the silver was measured in-situ during exposure. The thin films provided better protection of the substrate when deposited on smooth sapphire surfaces than when deposited on rougher alumina surfaces. The Al2O3 was amorphous before and after exposure, with less than 2 percent variation in oxygen atomic concentration and total Al2O3 thickness before and after exposure.
- Publication:
-
Presented at the 3rd International Conference on Surface Modification Technologies
- Pub Date:
- 1989
- Bibcode:
- 1989smt..conf.....C
- Keywords:
-
- Activation Energy;
- Aluminum Oxides;
- Oxidation;
- Oxygen Atoms;
- Particle Diffusion;
- Thin Films;
- Coatings;
- Electrical Resistivity;
- Kinetic Energy;
- Silver;
- Sputtering;
- Substrates;
- Solid-State Physics