Effects of annealing on the microstructure of yttria-stabilised zirconia thin films deposited by laser ablation.

In this paper the microstructural characterisation of yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ) thin films deposited by laser ablation is reported for the as-deposited sample as well as for samples submitted to thermal treatments in different atmospheres (vacuum, N2 and O2) at a moderate temperature (500 8C). Results obtained by different characterisation techniques such as grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity and transmission electron microscopy evidenced the formation of the cubic YSZ phase after the annealing treatments. On the contrary, the asdeposited sample is amorphous with nanocrystals of the cubic YSZ phase dispersed inside. It also exhibits a difference between the density of the surface region and the region of the interface with the substrate. This latter effect has been attributed to the loss of oxygen atoms during the deposition. The annealing treatments are able to recover the density unhomogeneity present inside the as-deposited sample, the degree of recovering depends on the ambient atmosphere.