Oxide Layer on a Polished Copper Surface

Abstract

THE application of electron diffraction to the problem of the structure of polished metal surfaces has greatly extended the knowledge gained from microscopical methods. In general, in the course of polishing, the rings of the electron diffraction pattern become blurred until they run into two broad haloes. As these changes may be explained by assuming that the metal crystals become smaller and smaller as the polishing progresses, the above-mentioned results are strongly in favour of Beilby's supposition that the topmost layer of highly polished metal is amorphous1.