Nanoscale Oxidation of Zirconium Surfaces: Kinetics and Mechanisms

Published

July 1, 2003

Author(s)

Natalia Farkas, Li Zhang, E A. Evans, R Ramsier, John A. Dagata

Abstract

We show that AFM-induced oxide features can be reproducibly formed on both Zr and ZrN surfaces, and that the growth rate decreases rapidly with increasing time. There is an increase in oxide-feature height with humidity for both systems, and an approximately linear dependence of the height of the structures on the applied voltage for all films for short exposure times. As the anodization time increases, the thinnest (6 nm) films show a large enhancement in oxide-feature height whereas the behavior of the other films is unchanged, demonstrating the role of the film/substrate interface. Under the same conditions, the height of features grown on ZrN films is greater than for those grown on Zr films, indicating that nitrogen plays a role in the oxidation process.

Citation

Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A

Volume

21(4)

Issue

No. 4

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

atomic force microscopy, local oxidation, zirconium, zirconium nitride

Citation

Farkas, N. , Zhang, L. , Evans, E. , Ramsier, R. and Dagata, J. (2003), Nanoscale Oxidation of Zirconium Surfaces: Kinetics and Mechanisms, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A (Accessed March 15, 2026)