Studies of Etching Microstructures on Metals

本研究探讨发生在金属和非金属中的局部蚀刻现象。该计划探讨了决定蚀刻坑开始的位置以及它们如何生长的因素。例如，在铝和其他一些金属中，蚀刻坑可以在其侧壁表现出氧化物钝化；这导致蚀刻深微米尺寸的腔与恒定的侧壁宽度。点蚀部位与扫描透射电子显微镜测定的表面成分相关联。通过系统处理控制的重要变量包括位错子结构、杂质偏析和空位浓度。模型系统选择这些研究是铝蚀刻在氯化物溶液。最终目标是利用从本研究中获得的关于蚀刻坑起始的信息来预编程金属表面上蚀刻点蚀的特定模式。

This research investigates localized etching phenomena which occur in metals and nonmetals. The program explores the factors that determine where etch pits initiate and how they grow. For instance, in aluminum and some other metals etch pits can exhibit oxide passivation at their sidewalls; this leads to etching of deep micron-sized cavities with constant sidewall widths. Sites of pitting are correlated with surface composition profiles determined by scanning transmission electron microscopy. Important variables that are controlled through systematic processing include dislocation substructure, impurity segregation, and vacancy concentration. The model system selected for these studies is aluminum etched in chloride solutions. The ultimate goal is to use the information on etch pit initiation gained from this research to preprogram specific patterns of etch pitting on metal surfaces.