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Title: Oxidation-driven surface dynamics on NiAl(100)

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [1]
  1. State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Binghamton, NY (United States)
  2. Biola Univ., La Mirada, CA (United States)
  3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
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Atomic steps, a defect common to all crystal surfaces, can play an important role in many physical and chemical processes. However, attempts to predict surface dynamics under nonequilibrium conditions are usually frustrated by poor knowledge of the atomic processes of surface motion arising from mass transport from/to surface steps. Using low-energy electron microscopy that spatially and temporally resolves oxide film growth during the oxidation of NiAl(100) we demonstrate that surface steps are impermeable to oxide film growth. The advancement of the oxide occurs exclusively on the same terrace and requires the coordinated migration of surface steps. The resulting piling up of surface steps ahead of the oxide growth front progressively impedes the oxide growth. This process is reversed during oxide decomposition. The migration of the substrate steps is found to be a surface-step version of the well-known Hele-Shaw problem, governed by detachment (attachment) of Al atoms at step edges induced by the oxide growth (decomposition). As a result, by comparing with the oxidation of NiAl(110) that exhibits unimpeded oxide film growth over substrate steps, we suggest that whenever steps are the source of atoms used for oxide growth they limit the oxidation process; when atoms are supplied from the bulk, the oxidation rate is not limited by the motion of surface steps.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-09ER46600; SC0001135
OSTI ID:
1261640
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 112, Issue 2; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 32 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

In situ full-field measurement of surface oxidation on Ni-based alloy using high temperature scanning probe microscopy journal April 2018
Adsorption of an Au atom and dimer on a thin θ-Al 2 O 3 /NiAl(100) film: dependence on the thickness of the θ-Al 2 O 3 film journal January 2018
Decomposition of methanol-d 4 on Au–Rh bimetallic nanoclusters on a thin film of Al 2 O 3 /NiAl(100) journal January 2018
First-principles thermodynamics and experimental study of interface oxidation in Ni/Ni 3 Al structures journal January 2019

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Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
oxidation
NiAl
surface steps