The present paper presents the results of a thermoanalytical investigation on the kinetics of the aluminothermic reduction of Cr 2 O 3 under non-isothermal conditions. Simultaneous differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetry (TG) technique were used. It was determined the minimum molar ratio Cr 2 O 3 : Al for the completion of the reaction and the value of the change of enthalpy associated to the reduction. X-ray diffraction was used in order to identify the products of reduction. Since the oxidation of aluminium and the reduction of Cr 2 O 3 occur simultaneously, it was possible to study the kinetics by analysing the rate of generation of the peak area for the Cr 2 O 3 reduction (DTA) and the mass gain due to the oxidation of some of the excess of aluminium (TG). The reduction was controlled by first order chemical reaction and the reduction was isokinetic within the experimental conditions of the present work.

Aluminothermic reduction of niobium pentoxide was studied through thermal analysis techniques such as differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetry (TG) as well as through high energy milling processing. Reactants mixtures were composed by powders of Nb2O5 and Al. In the case of DTA-TG experiments, different molar ratios Nb2O5:Al were heated in a dynamic atmosphere of synthetic air under controlled conditions. The high energy milling runs were carried out via SPEX vibratory mill under argon atmosphere and with milling power equal to 7:1 (ratio of mass of balls to mass of mixture) with 10 pct excess of Al over the stoichiometric mass of aluminum necessary. In both kinds of experiments, X ray diffraction was used in order to identify the products of reaction. From DTA-TG experiments, it was possible to determine the experimental value of the enthalpy change (-595.9 kJ.mol-1), which is near to the theoretical one. From the milling experiments, it was possible to verify the possibility of the occurance of aluminothermic reducion of niobium pentoxide via this kind of processing

Tungsten importance in semiconductor manufacturing is renewed more and more due to its usage not only as metallization for plugs, but also in metal gates architectures. As the scaling down of the devices is becoming aggressive, the metal interfaces become more critical. Hence, a deeper understanding of the evolution of the W surface after wet cleaning processes is becoming increasingly more important.

The present paper presents the results of a thermoanalytical investigation on the kinetics of the aluminothermic reduction of Nb 2 O 5 under non-isothermal conditions. Simultaneous differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetry (TG) technique were used. It was determined the minimum molar ratio Nb 2 O 5 : Al for the completion of the reaction and the value of the change of enthalpy associated to the reduction. X-Ray diffraction was used in order to identify the products of reduction. Since the oxidation of aluminium and the reduction of Nb 2 O 5 occur simultaneously, it was possible to study the kinetics by analysing the rate of generation of the peak area for the Nb 2 O 5 reduction (DTA) and the mass gain due to the oxidation of some of the excess of aluminium (TG). The reduction was controlled by first order chemical reaction and the reduction was isokinetic within the experimental conditions of the present work.