SELF-LIMITING OXIDATION OF COPPER

The classical theory of Cabrera-Mott describes passivation film format ion on metals, where they predicted that this film grows as a uniform layer due to a field-enhanced ionic transport mechanism. Here we prese nt experimental evidence, based on in situ transmission electron micro scopy of copper oxidation, that the passivation film nucleates and gro ws as oxide islands, not as a uniform layer. We propose an alternative phenomenological theory to describe passivation film formation, based on island growth followed by coalescence. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)02645-X].