The paper pre
sent
s the re
sult
s of inve
stigation
s of porou
s Al anodic film
s formed in HNO<
sub>3
sub> electrolyte
s carried out by mean
s of electrochemical technique
s and X-ray diffraction a
s well a
s scanning electron micro
scopy (SEM). It wa
s a
ssumed that both electrochemical formation of a porou
s oxide and anodic di
ssolution of metal take place at Al/oxide interface at the
same time. The analy
si
s of
short-range order (SRO) parameter
s for relatively high current den
sity, 1&time
s;10<
sup>3
sup> A/m<
sup>2
sup>, and anodizing time, 10 min, lead
s to the conclu
sion that film
s mainly con
si
st of amorphou
s alumina with γ′-Al<
sub>2
sub>O<
sub>3
sub>-like SRO and a
small amount (
s/glyph
s/BQ1.GIF>10%) of amorphou
s aluminum oxyhydroxide. SEM inve
stigation of the film
s revealed
strong dependence of the
surface relief on different applied forming condition
s. Thi
s marked change in the
surface relief i
s di
scu
ssed taking into account the relatively complex behavior of Al during anodization in HNO<
sub>3
sub> electrolyte
s, that involve
s both electrochemical growth and di
ssolution proce
sse
s of anodic film a
ssociated with an electrochemical di
ssolution of aluminum
sub
strate.