Nanocrystalline Cubic Phase Scandium-Stabilized Zirconia Thin Films

The cubic zirconia (ZrO₂) is attractive for a broad range of applications. However, at room temperature, the cubic phase needs to be stabilized. The most studied stabilization method is the addition of the oxides of trivalent metals, such as Sc₂O₃. Another method is the stabilization of the cubic phase in nanostructures—nanopowders or nanocrystallites of pure zirconia. We studied the relationship between the size factor and the dopant concentration range for the formation and stabilization of the cubic phase in scandium-stabilized zirconia (ScSZ) films. The thin films of (ZrO₂)_1−x(Sc₂O₃)_x, with x from 0 to 0.2, were deposited on room-temperature substrates by reactive direct current magnetron co-sputtering. The crystal structure of films with an average crystallite size of 85 Å was cubic at Sc₂O₃ content from 6.5 to 17.5 mol%, which is much broader than the range of 8–12 mol.% of the conventional deposition methods. The sputtering of ScSZ films on hot substrates resulted in a doubling of crystallite size and a decrease in the cubic phase range to 7.4–11 mol% of Sc₂O₃ content. This confirmed that the size of crystallites is one of the determining factors for expanding the concentration range for forming and stabilizing the cubic phase of ScSZ films.