Patent 7142409 was granted and assigned to Cabot Corporation on November, 2006 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Valve metal material, including a valve metal, a nitride layer located on the valve metal, and an oxide layer located on the nitride layer is described. Methods of forming such a valve metal material are also described. The method includes forming an oxide layer onto the valve metal and then forming a nitride layer between the oxide layer and the valve metal.