Thin-film metallization corrosion

DC techniques Include measurement of DC resistance, determination of polarization behavior, and measurement of polarization resistance. Coating resistance has been correlated with corrosion performance by a number of workers. As svunmarlzed by Leldhelser ( ), the results of several independent investigations suggest that coating resistance below about 10 ohm/cm Is associated with the formation of visible under-film corrosion. Parallel DC resistance measurements on thin film metal substrates have been used to study the deterioration of coated metals the technique successfully detected the effects of water after migration to the coating/metal interface (351. 

Chem. Desaip. Zinc dust CAS 7440-66-6 EINECS/ELINCS 231-175-3 Uses Corrosion inhibitor, pigment in thin-film metal protective coatings, corrosion-resist, metal coatings, aerosol paints in lubricants, chemicals Features For use with either org. or inorg. binders Reguiatory ASTM Spec. D-520 Type I compliance Properties Superfine powd. 100 /. thru 325 mesh 4.5 p median particle size sp.gr. 7.0 dens. 58.4 Ib/solid gal 99.3% total zinc, 96.5% metallic zinc, 3.1 zinc oxide ZCA Zinc Dust 64L [Zinc Corp. of Am.]... 

Tarnish dulling, staining or discoloration of metals due to the formation of thin films of corrosion products. (The term can also be applied to thin transparent film which may give rise to interference colours.)... 

The critical metallic components of advanced magnetic and magneto-optic (MO) storage devices— thin-film metal disks, inductive or magnetoresistive heads, and MO layers—are all susceptible to corrosion and each has been a subject of considerable study. Several review articles covering corrosion of magnetic-storage media may be found in the literature [135,136]. 

Surface discoloration of a metal caused by formation of a thin film of corrosion product Temper... 

Interest is maintained ia these materials because of the combination of mechanical, corrosion, electric, and magnetic properties. However, it is their ferromagnetic properties that lead to the principal appHcation of glassy metals. The soft magnetic properties and remarkably low coercivity offer tremendous opportunities for this appHcation (see Magnetic materials, bulk Magnetic materials, thin film). 

Films Once corrosion has started, its further progress very often is controlled by the nature of films, such as passive films, that may form or accumulate on the metallic surface. The classical example is the thin oxide tilm that forms on stainless steels. 

Metals that depend on a relatively thick protective coating of corrosion product for corrosion resistance are frequently subject to erosion-corrosion. This is due to the poor adherence of these coatings relative to the thin films formed by the classical passive metals, such as stainless steel and titanium. Both stainless steel and titanium are relatively immune to erosion-corrosion in most cooling water environments. 

The triggering mechanism for the corrosion process was localized depassivation of the weld-metal surface. Depassivation (loss of the thin film of chromium oxides that protect stainless steels) can be caused by deposits or by microbial masses that cover the surface (see Chap. 4, Underdeposit Corrosion and Chap. 6, Biologically Influenced Corrosion ). Once depassivation occurred, the critical features in this case were the continuity, size, and orientation of the noble phase. The massive, uninterrupted network of the second phase (Figs. 15.2 and 15.21), coupled... 

XPS has been used in almost every area in which the properties of surfaces are important. The most prominent areas can be deduced from conferences on surface analysis, especially from ECASIA, which is held every two years. These areas are adhesion, biomaterials, catalysis, ceramics and glasses, corrosion, environmental problems, magnetic materials, metals, micro- and optoelectronics, nanomaterials, polymers and composite materials, superconductors, thin films and coatings, and tribology and wear. The contributions to these conferences are also representative of actual surface-analytical problems and studies [2.33 a,b]. A few examples from the areas mentioned above are given below more comprehensive discussions of the applications of XPS are given elsewhere [1.1,1.3-1.9, 2.34—2.39]. 

Secondly, crystal defects might be expected to affect the corrosion behaviour of metals which owe their corrosion resistance to the presence of thin passive or thick protective films on their surface. The crystal defects and structural features discussed in Section 20.4 might, in principle, be expected to affect the thickness, strength, adhesion, porosity, composition, solubility, etc. of these surface films, and hence, in turn, the corrosion behaviour of the filmed metal surfaces. Clearly, this is the more common situation in practice. 

Oxygen from the atmosphere, dissolved in the electrolyte solution provides the cathode reactant in the corrosion process. Since the electrolyte solution is in the form of thin films or droplets, diffusion of oxygen from the atmosphere/electrolyte solution interface to the solution/metal interface is rapid. Moreover, convection currents within these thin films of solution may play a part in further decreasing concentration polarisation of this cathodic process . Oxygen may also oxidise soluble corrosion products to less soluble ones which form more or less protective barriers to further corrosion, e.g. the oxidation of ferrous species to the less soluble ferric forms in the rusting of iron and steel. 

The outstanding characteristics of the noble metals are their exceptional resistance to corrosive attack by a wide range of liquid and gaseous substances, and their stability at high temperatures under conditions where base metals would be rapidly oxidised. This resistance to chemical and oxidative attack arises principally from the Inherently high thermodynamic stability of the noble metals, but in aqueous media under oxidising or anodic conditions a very thin film of adsorbed oxygen or oxide may be formed which can contribute to their corrosion resistance. An exception to this rule, however, is the passivation of silver and silver alloys in hydrochloric or hydrobromic acids by the formation of relatively thick halide films. 

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