The modeling of oxide growth process on the surface during the diffusion in thin films under conditions of 'oxygen pump' action

We propose models which allow one to predict the growth kinetics for an oxide on the surface of thin films. We consider the process of growth of copper oxide on the nickel surface layer in the two-layer system Cu/Ni with regard for different mechanisms of diffusion of copper such as the volume diffusion through the oxide, the surface diffusion along the metal-oxide interface and the triple joints of the boundaries of grains, and the combined mechanism including the surface and volume diffusions. It is established that the mechanism of diffusion affects significantly the shape and size of the oxide layer and its effective thickness. We analyze the influence of parameters of the mass transfer on the effective index of growth of the oxide.