Structure of ZrO 2 optical thin films prepared by dual ion beam reactive sputter deposition

Abstract

Zirconia thin films have been produced at room temperature and at 600 K using a dual ion beam reactive sputter deposition technique. A Zr target was sputtered with 1.2 keV Ar + ions and the growing films were continuously bombarded with 100 eV O 2 + ions. The chemical composition of the films was determined by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and the microstructural state by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Density and thickness were deduced from X-ray reflectometry experiments. The refractive index was measured by ellipsometry. A maximum refractive index of 2.16 was obtained for films deposited onto heated substrates.