AES analysis of anodic tantalum-aluminium oxide films

Abstract Sputtered Ta-Al alloy thin layers were electrochemically anodized in 0.5 and 1.0% aqueous acid. The resulting films were analysed with Auger electron spectroscopy in combination with argon ion sputtering. The anodization results in the formation of anodic oxide films consisting of uniform amorphous mixture of Ta 2 O 5 and Al 2 O 3 . During the anodization a small fraction of Al dissolves in the electrolyte and there is no segregation effect. The growth constant of the oxide on Ta-Al layers is 1.65 ± 0.03 nm V −1 .