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The vibrational and electronic properties of amorphous and well-ordered alumina formed on Ni3Al(100) were investigated using high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy. The structure of well-ordered alumina was analyzed by low-energy electron diffraction. The amorphous Al2O3 films are prepared by adsorption of O2 at room temperature, while the well-ordered Al2O3 are obtained by direct oxidation of Ni3Al at 1150 K. The band gap energy is ∼3.2 and ∼4.3 eV for amorphous alumina and well-ordered alumina thin films respectively. The lowering of the band gap with respect to the bulk value of Al2O3 is associated with defect-induced states located in the band gap.
Costina et al. (Mon,) studied this question.