Hydrogen promoted corrosion of tungsten by oxygen in an electric field: A field ion microscope study

The extensive changes in surface topography observed to occur on tungsten field ion emitters as a result of exposure to oxygen in presence of hydrogen at 78°K and at fields of 2 V/Å have been studied in detail. Field promoted diffusion of gas from the low field region of the emitter shank over the imaged area of the surface removes kink site metal atoms and subsequently deposits them on either side of the well defined diffusion paths along close packed zones; field evaporation of such atoms may also occur when the change in local surface contour causes sufficient field enhancement. Although oxygen is primarily responsible for the corrosion effects, its diffusion at such temperatures is promoted by the presence of hydrogen, and the rate of reaction is dependent, inter alia, on hydrogen pressure.