THE OXIDATION OF AN ALUMINUM NITRIDE POWDER STUDIED BY BREMSSTRAHLUNG-EXCITED ANGER ELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY AND X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY

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.