An ultralow oxygen partial pressure-controlling system, based on solid-stat
e electrochemical principles, has been developed This system consists of an
oxygen sensor and an oxygen pump and is controlled by a PC computer. The o
xygen sensor is used to measure the oxygen partial pressure in an enclosed
system, while the oxygen pump is used to transport oxygen from the ambient
air into the enclosed system or from the enclosed system to the ambient air
. The operating conditions of this system have been studied The results sho
wed that it can be used to establish a stable oxygen partial pressure in th
e range of 10(-18)similar to 5 x 10(5) Pa (1 x 10(-23)similar to 5 atm) in
the enclosed system. This system has been used to investigate the selective
oxidation of the Cr and the oxide formation on the surface of a Ni-Cr allo
y under three different low oxygen partial pressures. The oxide morphology
was studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results agreed well wi
th those in the literature and also confirm the reliability of this system.