Crystallization and grain growth characteristics of yttria-stabilized zirconia thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

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• 作者：Sebastian Heiroth^a ; ^{sebastian.heiroth@psi.ch"" rel=""nofollow} ; Ruggero Frison^b ; ^{ruggero.frison@psi.ch"" rel=""nofollow} ; Jennifer L.M. Rupp^c ; ^{jennifer.rupp@mat.ethz.ch"" rel=""nofollow} ; Thomas Lippert^a ; ^{thomas.lippert@psi.ch"" rel=""nofollow} ; Eszter J. Barthazy Meier^d ; ^{eszter.barthazy@emez.ethz.ch"" rel=""nofollow} ; Elisabeth Mü ; ller Gubler^d ; ^{elisabeth.mueller@emez.ethz.ch"" rel=""nofollow} ; Max Dö ; beli^e ; ^{doebeli@phys.ethz.ch"" rel=""nofollow} ; Kazimierz Conder^b ; ^{kazimierz.conder@psi.ch"" rel=""nofollow} ; Alexander Wokaun^a ; ^{alexander.wokaun@psi.ch"" rel=""nofollow} ; Ludwig J. Gauckler^c ; ^{ludwig.gauckler@mat.ethz.ch"" rel=""nofollow}
• 关键词：Crystallization ; Grain growth ; Ceramics ; Thin films ; Yttria-stabilized zirconia ; Pulsed laser deposition
• 刊名：Solid State Ionics
• 出版年：2011
• 出版时间：2 June 2011
• 年：2011
• 卷：191
• 期：1
• 页码：12-23
• 全文大小：1285 K

文摘

Knowledge about the crystallization and grain growth characteristics of metal oxide thin films is essential for effective microstructural engineering by thermal post-annealing and the integration to Si-based miniaturized electroceramic devices. Finite size and interface effects may cause fundamentally different behavior compared to three dimensional macroscopic systems. This work presents a comprehensive investigation of the crystallization kinetics and microstructural evolution upon thermal post-annealing of amorphous 200 nm and 1.2 μm thin films of 8 mol % yttria-stabilized zirconia grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using ex- and in-situ X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and electron microscopy techniques. The layers exhibit a remarkably low crystallization temperature of 200–250 °C while exposure to energetic electrons induces the formation of randomly dispersed ~ 20 nm sized crystallites already at ambient temperature. The isothermal amorphous to crystalline phase transformation kinetics can be described quantitatively by the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami–Kolmogorov model. They reveal characteristics of a three dimensional growth under cation bulk diffusion control with heterogeneous nucleation that changes from continuous to instantaneous initial seeding at temperatures above 300 °C. Large (> 100 nm) equiaxed grains are formed rapidly without a stabilization of transient nanocrystals during the thermally induced phase transformation. A stagnation of normal grain growth resulting in a logarithmic normal size distribution is observed once the average grain dimensions approach the film thickness. The results on the crystallization and grain growth of the PLD-grown YSZ films are evaluated with regards to the fabrication of YSZ solid electrolyte membranes for Si-supported micro solid oxide fuel cells and gas sensors.