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In-Situ Studies on Stoichiometry and Structure of Thin Film Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia under Thermal Processing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

C.L. Chang
Affiliation:
clchang@fas.harvard.edu, Harvard University, SEAS, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
V. Shutthanandan
Affiliation:
shuttha@pnl.org, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, United States
S. C. Singhal
Affiliation:
Singhal@pnl.org, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, United States
Shriram Ramanathan
Affiliation:
clchang@fas.harvard.edu, Harvard University, SEAS, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
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Abstract

Thin films of 8 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) of thickness ranging from 15nm-500nm have been deposited on Si3N4(90nm)/Si substrates by RF sputtering at room temperature. These samples have been studied using in situ ion scattering techniques including Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) to analyze the oxygen distribution and defect chemistry as a function of annealing in various oxidizing and reducing ambient upto 500°C. In addition, the structural quality of these films after long time annealing has been investigated using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD). Temperature dependent X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) has been performed to study the unoccupied density of states and chemical nature of YSZ. In this paper, we will discuss in detail the effects of annealing in different ambient on the defect chemistry, structure and stability of films in these materials systems.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

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