A summary is given of the metal-organic vapour deposition, performed during the last eight years at the University of Twente (The Netherlands), of thin alumina, silica, and titania films at atmospheric and at low pressure on stainless steels. Alumina films were produced from aluminium-tri-sec-butoxide (ATSB) and aluminium-tri-iso-propoxide (ATI), silica films from di-acetoxy-di-t-butoxy-silane (DADBS), and titania films from titanium-tetra-iso-propoxide (TTIP). These investigations can be separated into a number of projects: 1) mechanistic aspects of the decomposition chemistry of the precursors, 2) kinetics of the deposition processes, 3) chemical properties, and 4) mechanical properties of the thin oxide films.In this paper a summary is presented with respect to the deposition of thin alumina, silica and titania films 245 Brought to you by | Purdue University Libraries Authenticated Download Date | 6/3/15 12:30 AM Vol. 15, No. 4, 1996 Formation of Thin Oxide Films by Metal-Organic Chemical performed at the University of Twente during the last eight years (March 1987-March 1995. In addition to the decomposition mechanisms of several precursors (metal alkoxides, the kinetics of the deposition process and the chemical and mechanical properties of the deposited oxide films are also presented.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
Specimen preparationDepositions were performed on AISI 304 (18% Cr, 8% Ni, 0.08% C, 1% Si, 2% Mn, 71% Fe) and Incoloy 800H (20% Cr, 32% Ni, 0.08% C, 0.5% Si, 0.7% Mn, 0.4% Al, 47% Fe). The samples were cut from an electropolished sheet or were ground on SiC paper with a final size of 4000 grit, followed by a polishing treatment with alumina (3 μπι) and subsequently ultrasonically cleaned for 30 minutes in RBS soap, hexane and ethanol. Finally, the samples were immersed in Struer's etching fluid (5% solution of 3 Μ nitric acid in ethanol) for 15 minutes, washed with pure ethanol and dried in air at room temperature.