The initial oxidation of magnesium: an in situ study with XPS,HERDA and ellipsometry

The initial oxidation of magnesium at oxygen partial pressures between 1.3 × 10^?8 and 1.3 × 10^?5 Pa and at temperatures ranging from 273 to 550 K has been investigated in situ with X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ellipsometry and high resolution elastic recoil detection analysis (HERDA). Quantitative analysis of the XPS spectra showed a clear oxygen deficiency with respect to MgO for the initial oxide. HERDA measurements confirmed this relatively low oxygen content in the thin oxide layers formed. Ellipsometry measurements showed that the electronic structure of the initially formed oxide differs significantly from that of bulk MgO. The band gap values at room temperature for the oxide layers investigated are clearly smaller than the value for bulk MgO. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.