Determination of Mass Transport Mechanism of Rutile by Sinusoidal Profile Decay Method

Abstract

Amplitude decay of sinusoidal surface profiles on the c surface of TiO 2 single crystals was measured in air over the range 1500 to 1700 K. The rate of decay was proportional to –2.75 powers of the sinusoidal wave length (4.3 to 17.6 μrn), indicating that volume diffusion is the dominant mass‐transport mechanism. The effective volume diffusion coefficient, Deff , given agreed with tracer diffusion data for the Ti ion. Hence Deff was assumed to be equal to the self‐diffusion coefficient of the Ti ion as oxygen ion transport along the surface was enhanced. No anisotropy was observed for transport on this surface.