Investigation of the effect of anodization time and annealing temperature on the physical properties of ZrO2 thin film on a Si substrate

Abstract

This research work studied the effects of various anodization times (5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 min) and various annealing temperatures (500, 600, 700, 800 and 900 °C) on ZrO2 thin film on a Si substrate. The ZrO2 thin film was prepared via sputtering and anodization processes on a Si substrate. The existence of Si, SiO2, m-ZrO2, t-ZrO2 and ZrSiO4 was confirmed by x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. In addition, NaOH was observed as a residue on the surface of the thin film. The grain size and microstrain of both m-ZrO2, and t-ZrO2 were calculated using the Williamson-Hall and/or Scherrer equation. The morphology of samples was examined by scanning electron microscopy. In contrast to unannealed samples, the annealed samples have a smaller grain size, less NaOH, and SiO2 with a smoother surface. However, the SiO2 existed when being annealed at higher temperatures (≥800 °C). © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.