Surface oxidation kinetics of SiC powders in wet and dry air studied by x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and bremsstrahlung‐excited Auger electron spectroscopy

Abstract

Abstract Silicon carbide powder samples were heated at temperatures between 600 °C and 850 °C in wet and dry air to investigate the effect of moisture on the oxidation kinetics. Equations were derived to calculate the surface oxide thickness from both the Si 2p XPS spectra and from the Si KLL bremsstrahlung‐excited Auger spectra. The oxide film growth rates are shown to be parabolic. The film thickness formed during oxidation in wet air was larger than that in dry air for the same temperature and heating time. The activation energy for wet oxidation was found to be significantly lower than that for dry oxidation within this temperature range. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.