Structure And Mechanical Properties Of Zirconium Oxide Thin Films Prepared By Hybrid Ion Deposition Using A Positively Biased Electrode

Zirconium oxide thin films were deposited by combining plasma-based ion implantation and vacuum cathodic arc deposition on silicon substrate at different inlet gas flow rate, positive bias voltage and implantation voltage using a positively biased electrode.The chemical and phase structure of the deposited films were determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The surface morphology and microstructure were studied by atomic force microscope (AFM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM), respectively. The hardness and modulus were measured by nanoindentation. The influence of annealing on the thin films was also studied.Microcrystallite or amorphous is dominant phase structure on the films. The preferred orientation of the films prepared by vacuum cathodic arc deposition is along the m(200) direction in the case of the flow rate was 200sccm, there is no preferred orientation with the flow rate of 250sccm or less than 100sccm. A granular structure of the films can be observed on the surface of the films prepared by both methods. The roughness of the films increases with the flow rate, while decreased with positively biased voltage increased.The zirconium oxide thin films prepared by hybrid deposition have high hardness and modulus. The maxima value of their hardness and modulus are 18.1GPa and 251GPa, respectively. With increasing the positively biased voltage (0-100V), the hardness of the films prepared by vacuum cathodic arc deposition increased significantly, and the hardness of the films prepared by hybrid deposition also rose obviously at 400V.The roughness of the deposited films increases after annealing. After annealing at 330°C and 430°C, it is found that monoclinic and tetragonal phase coexist in the films.