The aging of the anodic oxide of titanium during potentiostatic condition by ellipsometry

The aging effect of the anodic oxide film on titanium under constant potential oxidation was investigated by 3-parameter (3-P) ellipsometry in 0.1 mol dm(-3) sulfuric acid solution. The oxide film was initially formed by a potential sweep oxidation, where the film with a low refractive index grew at relatively high rate. From the low value of the refractive index, the oxide film is assumed to be a hydrated structure. After the sweep oxidation to 4.26 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, the constant potential oxidation was performed at a potential of 4.26 V to examine the aging effect of the hydrated oxide film by 3-P ellipsometry. It was found that the refractive index of the oxide film increased from 2.39 to 2.59 during the aging of the constant potential oxidation, and the thickness decreased. The increase of the refractive index and the decrease of thickness may be explained by conversion from the hydrated oxide to a dehydrated oxide during the aging. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.