Anodic oxides electric properties

Electrochemistry of Aluminum in Aqueous 20 Solutions and Physics of Its Anodic Oxide Electric Breakdown in Anodic Oxide Films 23 Equilibrium Properties of Electrified 1... 

It is somewhat less corrosion resistant than tantalum, and like tantalum suffers from hydrogen embrittlement if it is made cathodic by a galvanic couple or an external e.m.f., or is exposed to hot hydrogen gas. The metal anodises in acid electrolytes to form an anodic oxide film which has a high dielectric constant, and a high anodic breakdown potential. This latter property coupled with good electrical conductivity has led to the use of niobium as a substrate for platinum-group metals in impressed-current cathodic-protection anodes. 

Anodic oxidation is a very common process in the electrochemical industry, used for example in the manufacture of aluminum and tantalum capacitors. The anodic oxidation of silicon is not of comparable importance, because the electrical properties of anodic oxides are inferior to those of thermal oxides. 

While the growth of thermal oxides is dominated by high-temperature diffusion of oxygen in the oxide matrix, anodic oxide growth is dominated by field-enhanced hydroxyl diffusion at RT. These different growth mechanisms result in pronounced differences in the morphological, chemical and electrical properties of the oxide. 

The electrical properties of an anodic oxide are found to depend on the formation conditions and subsequent treatments such as annealing. As-prepared anodic oxides show high leakage currents and a diode-like behavior known from anodic oxides of valve metals. A short high-temperature anneal, which removes the bound hydroxyl, reduces the leakage current to values typical of thermal oxides, as shown in Fig. 5.9. 

As a rule of thumb it can be said that the electrical properties of an anodic oxide are found to improve for thin layers that are grown slowly, at low potentials and low current densities. A subsequent RTA process is mandatory if low leakage currents are required. 

Electrochemistry is one of the most promising areas in the research of conducting polymers. Thus, the method of choice for preparing conducting polymers, with the exception of PA, is the anodic oxidation of suitable monomeric species such as pyrrole [3], thiophene [4], or aniline [5]. Several aspects of electrosynthesis are of relevance for electrochemists. First, there is the deposition process of the polymers at the electrode surface, which involves nucleation-and-growth steps [6]. Second, to analyze these phenomena correctly, one has to know the mechanism of electropolymerization [7, 8]. And thirdly, there is the problem of the optimization of the mechanical, electrical, and optical material properties produced by the special parameters of electropolymerization. 

Surface layers of silicon oxide are important in semiconductor device fabrication as interlayer dielectrics for capacitors, isolation of conducting layers, or as masking materials. However, anodic oxides, due to their relatively poor electrical properties, breakdown voltage, and leakage current, have not yet found much use in device technology, and cannot compete with thermal oxides obtained at high temperatures of 700 to 900 °C. 

Electrochemical properties of tosylhydrazones of acylsilanes were also investigated. A decrease in the oxidation potential of tosylhydrazones caused by silylation is much smaller than that for carbonyl compounds (see Tables 7 and Section n.E., Table 9). Anodic oxidation of tosylhydrazones of acylsilanes provides the corresponding nitriles with consumption of a catalytic amount of electricity (equation 29)34. 

There are many types of silicon oxides such as thermal oxide, CVD oxide, native oxide, and anodized oxide. Only native oxide and anodic oxide are directly relevant in the context of this book. Anodic oxide film, which is involved in most of the electrochemical processes on silicon electrodes, has not been systematically understood, partly due to its lack of application in mainstream electronic device fabrication, and partly due to the great diversity of conditions under which anodic oxide can be formed. On the other hand, thermal oxide, due to its importance in silicon technology, has been investigated in extremely fine detail. This chapter will cover some aspects of thermal oxide such as growth kinetics and physical, electrical, and chemical properties. The data on anodic oxide will then be described relative to those of thermal oxide. 

FIGURE 3.22. The physical, electrical, and chemical properties of anodic oxides relative to thermal oxides. Data from Table 3.2. 

The electrical properties of silicon oxide play a critical role in many phenomena on sihcon electrodes, particularly in the growth of anodic films. Anodic oxides can... 

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