Ps. Wang et al., THE OXIDATION OF AN ALUMINUM NITRIDE POWDER STUDIED BY BREMSSTRAHLUNG-EXCITED ANGER ELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY AND X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY, Journal of materials research, 10(2), 1995, pp. 302-305
Bremsstrahlung-excited Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) was used to s
tudy the oxidation kinetics of an aluminum nitride powder oxidized in
air at 750, 800, 850, and 900 degrees C. An equation was derived to ca
lculate the average surface oxide film thickness from the aluminum AES
spectra. The oxidation of this powder was found to follow a parabolic
rate law within this temperature range. The measured activation energ
y was 230 +/- 17 kJ/mol (55 +/- 4 kcal/mol). Analysis with x-ray photo
electron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that in addition to the nitride N 1
s peak, there was a second N 1s peak. This peak has been observed in p
revious studies and can be attributed to N-O bonding either within the
growing oxide film or at the Al2O3/AlN interface.