Open air fabrication of Al2O3 thin films at room temperature

A thin layer of water or hydrogen peroxide solution, which was formed on a pure aluminum substrate, was photodissociated by ArF excimer laser(lambda = 193nm) or Xe-2* excimer lamp(lambda = 172nm) light to photochemically oxidize the surface of aluminum substrate. The layer was formed by a capillary phenomenon between the substrate and a fused silica glass as an entrance window of ultraviolet light. Then, the layer was photodissociated by the excimer laser or the excimer lamp light irradiation to generate active oxygen; the surface oxidization was performed by the photo-induced active oxygen, The surface before and after modification was evaluated by the XPS analysis; the high densed photo-oxidization film was confirmed on the modified surface, compared with a natural oxidization film. Furthermore. the contact angle with water became remarkably small, and it is seen that the treated surface was quite densely oxidized.