Characterization of Ion Irradiated Zirconia-Yttria Films

Abstract

Zirconia-yttria films containing 8.0wt% Y2O3 were prepared on a Si substrate with r.f. magnetron sputtering deposition followed by 170 KeV Ar+ ion irradiation at room temperature. The characterization of these zirconia-yttria films with different ion bombarding doses has been studied by XRD, XPS and AES. It was found that all the films consisted of three portions, the amorphous films deposited with r.f. magnetron-sputtering were partially crystallized and nontransformable tetragonal (T') phase was detected after Ar+ ion bombardment of a dose of 1×1016 ion/cm2, and the oxidized states of Zr3d, Y3d and Ols peaks of XPS were observed under the conditions of argon ion bombardment of different doses.