Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T18:02:11.278Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Effect of Layer Thickness on Polycrystalline Zirconia Growth in Zirconia-Alumina Multilayer Nanolaminates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

C. M. Scanlan
Affiliation:
Materials Department and the Laboratory for Surface Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, P.O. Box 784, Milwaukee, WI 53201
M. D. Wiggins
Affiliation:
Materials Department and the Laboratory for Surface Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, P.O. Box 784, Milwaukee, WI 53201
M. Gajdardziska-Josifovska
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and the Laboratory for Surface Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201
C. R. Aita
Affiliation:
Materials Department and the Laboratory for Surface Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, P.O. Box 784, Milwaukee, WI 53201
Get access

Abstract

The mechanical properties of zirconia are known to be a function of phase composition. We show here that a nanolaminate geometry can be used to control the phase composition of zirconia films. The experiment consisted of growth of nanoscale multilayer films (nanolaminates) of polycrystalline zirconia and amorphous alumina by reactive sputter deposition on Si (111) and fused silica substrates. The films were characterized using x-ray diffraction and high resolution electron microscopy. The results show that both monoclinic (m) and tetragonal (t) zirconia polymorphs were formed in the zirconia layers. Most crystallites are oriented with either close-packed {111}-t or {111}-m planes parallel to the substrate. The volume fraction of tetragonal zirconia, the desired phase for transformation-toughening behavior, increases with decreasing zirconia layer thickness. Nanolaminates with a volume fraction of tetragonal zirconia exceeding 0.8 were produced without the addition of a stabilizing dopant, and independent of the kinetic factors that limit tetragonal zirconia growth in pure zirconia films.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. For a short review, see: Ruhle, M., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 3, 749 (1985).Google Scholar
2. Kwok, C.-K. and Aita, C.R., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 7, 1235 (1989).Google Scholar
3. Kwok, C.-K. and Aita, C.R., J. Appl. Phys. 66, 2756 (1989).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Kwok, C.-K. and Aita, C.R., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 8, 3345 (1990)Google Scholar
5. Aita, C.R. and Kwok, C.-K., J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 73, 3209 (1990).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Aita, C.R., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 11, 1540 (1993).Google Scholar
7. Aita, C.R., Nanostruct. Mater. 4, (1994) in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. See, for example, Azaroff, L.V., Elements of X-ray Crystallography (McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1968) pp. 551–2. The Scherrer equation gives the limiting case of broadening due to size effects with no contribution from random lattice strain, i.e., gives the minimum possible value of the average crystallite dimension.Google Scholar
9. Garvie, R.C. and Nicholson, P.S., J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 55, 303 (1972).Google Scholar
10. Bravman, J.C. and Sinclair, R., J. Electron Micros. Tech. 1, 53 (1984).Google Scholar
11. ASTM Joint Committee on Powder Diffraction Standards, 1974, File Nos. 13–307 and 17–923.Google Scholar
12. Bauer, E., in Single Crystal Films (edited by Francombe, M.H. and Sato, H., Macmillan, NY, NY, 1964) pp. 4367.Google Scholar
13. Scanlan, C.M., Gajdardzisha-Josifovska, M., and Aita, C.R., Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, (1994) in press.Google Scholar
14. deRuijter, W.J., Gajdardziska-Josifovska, M., McCartney, M.R., Sharma, R., Smith, D.J. and Weiss, J.K., Scanning Microsc 6, 347 (1992).Google Scholar
15. Wayman, C.M., in Science and Technology of Zirconia (edited by Heuer, A.H. and Hobbs, L.W., Advances in Ceramics, Vol. 3, American Ceramic Society, Columbus, OH, 1981) pp. 6481.Google Scholar