AES and XPS studies of oxygen stabilized alpha zirconium

Abstract

In order to examine the effect of oxygen on AES and XPS spectra of zirconium, we have made AES and XPS studies of oxygen stabilized alpha zirconium (α-Zr(O)) with various oxygen contents. Both AES and XPS spectra of α-Z(O) are varied continuously with increasing oxygen content up to 25 at% and no evidence for the surface precipitation of the oxide or the surface depletion of oxygen is observed. The surface oxygen concentration of the α-Zr(O) determined by AES peak intensities shows a quite good agreement with the bulk oxygen concentration even after a prolonged Ar ion bombardment, whereas the depletion of oxygen is seen in ZrO 2 . In XPS spectra, the conduction band of α-Zr(O) remains for oxygen content up to 25 at%, while peak broadenings of Zr 4p and O 2p become notable above 15at% O. Such an electronic structure change should be taken into account for the investigation of the different behavior under Ar ion bombardment between α-Zr(O) and ZrO 2 .