Recent advances on physico-chemical characterization of passive films by EIS and differential admittance techniques

Thin Nb2O5 anodic films (∼20 nm thick) grown in phosphoric acid solution have been characterised by EIS and differential admittance study in a large range of potential and frequency. The overall electrical behaviour has been interpreted by means of the theory of amorphous semiconductor Schottky barrier in presence of a non-constant density of states (DOS). A comparison of DOS for films grown in different electrolytes is reported.