Consequences of variation in oxygen partial pressure on zirconium oxide thin films

Abstract

RF magnetron sputtering was used to deposit zirconium oxide thin films with oxygen as the reactive gas and argon as the inert gas. The effect of increasing the oxygen partial pressure from 17.0 to 50.0% on the structural, optical, wettability, and tribological properties of deposited films was examined. X-ray diffraction was used to characterize the structure of ZrO2 thin films, confirming the presence of a (1 1 1) peak whose intensity increases as the oxygen partial pressure decreases. Atomic force microscopy results indicate increase in surface smoothness values with decrease in oxygen partial pressure. Within the wavelength range of 300 nm to 700 nm, average transmittance values of roughly 80% were reported, demonstrating that zirconium oxide thin films are transparent. When utilizing a contact angle goniometer to measure contact angles for water and formamide liquids, the results show that the films are hydrophobic. The highest contact angle observed on zirconium oxide thin films are 102.6° and 101.3° for water and formamide liquids respectively. Tribological investigation shows that zirconium oxide thin films coated pins had a reduction of wear when compared to the uncoated pins.