Quantitative characterisation of alumina scales on high temperature alloys by atomic force microscopy.

The formation of thin oxide films on {111} and {110} single crystal specimens of the Fe20Cr5Al based ODS alloy during the early stages of oxidation at temperatures up to 1000 degrees centigrade was quantitatively investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM results revealed the crystalline character of corrosion layer. The alumina scale morphology (height and grain size of crystallites) was slightly dependent on the crystallographic texture of the underlying bulk material. The results showed that AFM is promising technique for the quantitative characterization of the surface structure of oxide layers in the initial stages of oxidation processes.