The effects of water vapor on the oxidation kinetics of UHV‐deposited Al films have been investigated using in situ ellipsometric measurements. For a given exposure time, the presence of ∼33% increases the thickness by ∼50% and roughly doubles the extinction coefficient of the oxide. We attribute the nonzero extinction coefficients (with a range in values from 0.05 to 0.18) as being due to the presence of excess Al in the oxide. The "wet"‐grown layers oxidize at least twice as fast as "dry"‐grown layers on storing of samples in a normal laboratory environment. Furthermore, the relative effectiveness of the passivation provided to the underlying Al is greater for the "dry"‐ than the "wet"‐grown layers. Gravimetric and electrical resistance data from samples exposed to an aqueous corrosion test are given to support this.
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Grimblot et al. (1981) studied this question.