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Microstructural Analysis of Multi-phase Ultra-Thin Oxide Overgrowth on Al–Mg Alloy by High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy

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Abstract

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy analyses are carried out to understand the microstructure of the ultra-thin oxide-film grown on a (native) amorphous Al2O3-coated Al-0.8 at.% Mg alloy substrate at T = 600 K for t = 2 h and at pO2 of 1 × 10−2 Pa. This oxide-film is found to be non-uniformly thick with thicknesses varying from 1.50 to 4.60 nm. Occasionally, this oxide is found to diffuse into the Al–Mg alloy substrate, forming oxide thicknesses up to 10.5 nm. Overall, this oxide-film is found to consist of a mixed amorphous, (poly) crystalline and an intermediate amorphous-to-crystalline transition regions, with crystalline regions consisting mostly of MgO and the diffused oxide regions into the Al–Mg alloy substrate coated with γ-Al2O3. These observations are then compared with the experimental results obtained using angle-resolved X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy analysis and thermodynamic predictions for the growth of an ultra-thin oxide-film due to dry, thermal oxidation of Al–Mg alloy substrates.

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Acknowledgments

The experiments were carried out in Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (formerly known as Max Planck Institute for Metals Research), Stuttgart, Germany. The authors are indebted to Prof. Eric J. Mittemeijer for the provision of oxidation and in situ AR-XPS and MBE facilities, Dr. Lars P.H. Jeurgens for his invaluable discussions, Dr. P.A. van Aken for the provision of TEM facilities, Dr. Gunther Richter for taking the HR-TEM images and to Mrs. U. Eigenthaler for the FIB preparation of the TEM lamellae.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, 382424, India

      Narendra Bandaru, Darshan Ajmera, Krishna Manwani, Sasmita Majhi & Emila Panda

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    1. Narendra Bandaru
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    2. Darshan Ajmera
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    3. Krishna Manwani
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    4. Sasmita Majhi
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    5. Emila Panda
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    Correspondence to Emila Panda.

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    Narendra Bandaru and Darshan Ajmera have contributed equally to this work.

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    Bandaru, N., Ajmera, D., Manwani, K. et al. Microstructural Analysis of Multi-phase Ultra-Thin Oxide Overgrowth on Al–Mg Alloy by High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy. Trans Indian Inst Met 70, 1269–1275 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12666-016-0920-x

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