Oriented nano-structured ZrO2 thin films formed using sol-gel process

This paper analyzed the orientation characteristics of ZrO2 thin films and the influence of phase transformation on film orientation. Zirconia thin films were formed on the fused quartz using the sol-gel process, and their structure was determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD results indicated that the ZrO2 thin films were made of (111) oriented t-ZrO2 crystallites at low temperature. With the increase of temperature, the t-ZrO2 transformed to m-ZrO2 and the orientation was transformed from t-ZrO2 (111) to m-ZrO2 (111¯). The transformation temperature of the ZrO2 thin films from t-ZrO2 to m-ZrO2 was 100°C higher than that of the gel powder. AFM results showed that the roughness of the thin films surface increased with temperature, and the ZrO2 grain size increased from 7.5 nm for 600°C, 1 h to 64 nm for 1000°C, 1 h.