Initial Stages of the Oxidation of Tantalum
Pre-thinned high purity tantalum sheet was oxidized in high purity oxygen at 500°C in an ultra high vacuum reactor vessel at pressures of 10 to 100 microns for 30 to 90 minutes. Transmission electron microscopy revealed changes in the microstructure as the oxidation progressed and electron diffraction showed many different sub-oxide phases and marked ordering effects.For the lowest oxygen exposure, 10 microns for 30 minutes, a microstructure showing both large and small domains was found, Figure 1. As can be seen the size and shape of the domains varied considerably. The long narrow domains are near the edge of the foil and all have boundaries along ﹛100﹜ In intermediate regions, about one micron in from the edge, the domains have a peculiar “air plane” shape with boundaries along both ﹛100﹜ and ﹛110﹜ and “wings” adjacent to the ﹛100﹜ boundary. Interspaced among the airplane shaped domains and in regions up to 3 microns from the edge are very small, interconnected nuclei.