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Publications in Scientific Journals:

T. Götsch, L. Mayr, M. Stöger-Pollach, B. Klötzer, S. Penner:
"Preparation and characterization of epitaxially grown unsupported yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thin films";
Applied Surface Science, 331 (2015), 427 - 436.



English abstract:
Epitaxially grown, chemically homogeneous yttria-stabilized zirconia thin films ("YSZ", 8 mol% Y2O3) are prepared by direct-current sputtering onto a single-crystalline NaCl(0 0 1) template at substrate temperatures ≥493 K, resulting in unsupported YSZ films after floating off NaCl in water.

A combined methodological approach by dedicated (surface science) analytical characterization tools (transmission electron microscopy and diffraction, atomic force microscopy, angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) reveals that the film grows mainly in a [0 0 1] zone axis and no Y-enrichment in surface or bulk regions takes place. In fact, the Y-content of the sputter target is preserved in the thin films. Analysis of the plasmon region in EEL spectra indicates a defective nature of the as-deposited films, which can be suppressed by post-deposition oxidation at 1073 K. This, however, induces considerable sintering, as deduced from surface morphology measurements by AFM.

In due course, the so-prepared unsupported YSZ films might act as well-defined model systems also for technological applications.

Keywords:
Thin films; Surface morphology; YSZ; TEM


"Official" electronic version of the publication (accessed through its Digital Object Identifier - DOI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.01.068

Electronic version of the publication:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169433215000926


Created from the Publication Database of the Vienna University of Technology.