Preparation of yttrium-stabilized zirconia films and their fine patterning

A novel technique was developed to lithographically make fine patterns on Y-stabilized zirconia films (YSZ films), using methanol as solvent, zirconium oxynitrate and yttrium nitrate as precursor, acetylacetone (AcAcH) as chemical modification. Basing on sol-gel process, an UV photosensitive sol and gel films by chemical modification in AcAcH to form chelate complexes with Zr ions, were obtained from which the YSZ films to be patterned can be prepared. By means of UV-Visible spectrophotometers, it was found that the chelate complexes with AcAcH bonded with Zr ions can exist in the gel films, and show good thermal stability and photochemical stability under the atmosphere and visible light and room temperature, and have a UV absorption peak located at around wavelength 310nm. The UV laser light with the wavelength of 325nm irradiation can decompose the chelate complexes in gel films, and change the physical and chemical characteristic of the gel films, from which the solubility of gel films irradiated by UV laser light in solvents including methanol, etc., is reduced remarkably. Utilizing such characteristics, YSZ films with fine patterns can be obtained by irradiating the gel film with UV laser light via pattern mask and dissolving the non-irradiated area in suitable solvent and annealing at 800degreesC for 20min. The results via XRD patterns test show that the YSZ fine pattern films are of cubic phase.