An Empirical Oxidation Rate Law for Thin Oxides

An oxidation rate law for thin oxides, as suggested by Hu (2, 3), has been found to correlate very well with experimental data. The growth law, although not based on any interface reaction mechanism, has been formulated to be consistent with the observed power‐law pressure dependence of the linear rate constant through the use of a dummy parameter, . The higher oxidation rate observed at thin oxides has been taken into account by an exponentially decaying term. The analysis assumes that varies linearly over the thickness of the oxide. Values of the other parameters in the rate law have been taken from available data.