Pulsed laser deposition of polycrystalline zirconia thin films

Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is used in this work to produce zirconia thin films. Targets are sintered zirconia ceramic pellets which are fully or partially stabilized with either 3 mol% Y(2)O(3), 20 mol% MgO or 9 mol% CaO. Depending on the stabilizing oxide, their structure is either tetragonal or cubic in the presence of an eventual monoclinic secondary phase. The targets an laser irradiated with a KrF excimer laser (248 nm) at an energy density of 4 J/cm(2) per pulse in an oxygen residual pressure of 0.3 mbar. The ejected matter is collected on fused quartz substrates. These are heated during deposition at temperatures T(S) ranging between 400 and 600 degrees C. Both targets and films are analyzed via normal incidence and low angle X-ray diffraction and the optical band gap of the films is evaluated via IR-VIS-UV optical transmission. Preparation conditions are then defined which allow to produce films possessing remarkably the same crystalline structure as the corresponding target. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.