Study of YSZ films deposited using electron-beam sputtering onto a nickel alloy with a perfect cube texture

X-ray diffraction analysis and atomic force microscopy were used to study the effect of the state of a substrate (an Ni-11 at % Cr ribbon) and deposition conditions on the texture and roughness of an yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) buffer layer deposited by electron-beam sputtering. The presence of a sharp cube texture in the nickel-alloy ribbon was shown to be insufficient condition for obtaining a biaxial texture in the YSZ film. A two-dimensional (2 × 2) sulfur superstructure should be formed on the nickel-ribbon surface. In this case, the YSZ film with a sharp {100} 〈100〉 cube texture and surface roughness of ∼10–15 nm can be prepared at a low deposition rate of 0.005–0.008 nm/s and a substrate temperature of 700–800°C.