Enhanced grain growth in yttria-doped zirconia thin film structures synthesized under photon irradiation |
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| Authors: | Masaru Tsuchiya Shriram Ramanathan |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University , Cambridge, MA, USA tsuchiya@seas.harvard.edu;3. Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University , Cambridge, MA, USA |
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| Abstract: | Enhanced grain growth in ultra-thin yttria-doped zirconia (YDZ) films synthesized under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is reported. The mean grain size in UV-synthesized 7.5 mol% YDZ films nearly 56 nm thick increased to 85 nm upon annealing in an oxygen-rich ambient at 900°C for 1 h, while in thermally grown YDZ they grew only to ～15 nm under identical annealing conditions. In situ electron microscopy kinetic studies reveal an enhanced kinetic constant and self-limiting grain growth behaviour in the UV-synthesized oxide films. The difference between UV and thermally grown films was not significant in undoped films when compared to the case of 7.5 mol% YDZ. |
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| Keywords: | photon-assisted thin film synthesis ultraviolet grain growth zirconia transmission electron microscopy |
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