High-temperature oxidation of CoGa: Influence of the crystallographic orientation on the oxidation rate

The crystallographic orientation plays an important role in high-temperature oxidation of the intermetallic compound CoGa. When CoGa is exposed to air at elevated temperatures, the oxide β–Ga2O3 is formed, and different scale growth rates are observed, depending on the crystallographic orientation of the CoGa grains. This dependence is a consequence of the anisotropy of the gallium diffusion rate through the β–Ga2O3 scale and of a topotaxial orientation relationship occurring between β–Ga2O3 and CoGa. The combination of ex situ techniques, such as transmission electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction with optical microscopy, applied in situ resulted in a thorough understanding of these relations and of the oxidation process in general.