Kinetics of BeO formation at the surface of a Cu-Be alloy

Auger Electrons Spectroscopy was used to follow the kinetics of beryllium oxyde layer formation at the surface of a Cu-Be alloy. All the Auger spectra were recorded during heating in order to follow the thermal fluctuations and to monitor the oxidation kinetics of the surface under dynamic conditions. We showed that the process of beryllium oxide layer growth takes place in three sequences. Each sequence corresponds to one state of the surface. We characterized a competition between two physical phenomena which depend on temperature, namely the diffusion of oxygen in the Cu-Be bulk and the segregation-oxidation of Be. We showed that after 60 minutes of heating at 350 degrees C, 600 degrees C or 750 degrees C the second phenomenon becomes dominant and results in the appearance of oxidized beryllium at the surface. On the other hand, copper was oxidized after 45 minutes of heating at 600 degrees C and goes to the surface after 30 minutes of heating at 750 degrees C.