Self-limiting oxidation of copper

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Abstract
The classical theory of Cabrera–Mott describes passivation film formation on metals, where they predicted that this film grows as a uniform layer due to a field-enhanced ionic transport mechanism. Here we present experimental evidence, based on in situ transmission electron microscopy of copper oxidation, that the passivation film nucleates and grows as oxide islands, not as a uniform layer. We propose an alternative phenomenological theory to describe passivation film formation, based on island growth followed by coalescence.