Hydrogen Profiles of Anodic Aluminum Oxide Films

The 15N hydrogen profiling technique is used to measure hydrogen concentration profiles in a variety of films including amorphous anodic barrier films grown in different electrolytes, pseudoboehmite, and composite oxide films grown by reaction with boiling water followed by anodic oxidation. Hydrogen profiles of the composite oxide films confirm that the "relaxation" which causes a large loss in field strength results from penetration of water deep into the oxide film. Comparison of our results with those obtained by SIMS is made where the SIMS data are available.