Peculiarities of bismuth nitride formation processes on the surface of nanosized bismuth films

The authors have discussed the processes of bismuth nitride formation under interaction of gaseous ammonia with nanosized 1-120 nm thick bismuth films at room temperature. Subject to film thicknesses, kinetic curves of transformation degree were described by linear, inverse logarithmic, parabolic, or logarithmic dependences. A model of bismuth corrosion was suggested, that included ammonia dissociation with chemosorbed nitrogen formation, electron tunneling from metal to vacant levels of nitrogen, formation of bismuth nitride nuclei on Bi2O3 surface, bismuth ions diffusion through Bi2O3 and BiN layers under applied electric field.