TEM and x-ray investigation of single crystal-like zirconia films fabricated by dual ion beam deposition

Single crystal-like yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thin films have been deposited on amorphous quartz, polycrystalline zirconia, single crystal Si, and Hastelloy substrates using dual ion beam deposition (IBAD). These films are highly crystallographically aligned both normal to and within the film plane. The films are deposited at low substrate temperatures (< 200 C), and the film orientation is substrate independent. 0--20 X-ray diffraction, X-ray rocking curves, X-ray pole figures and X-ray phi scans are used to evaluate the film structure. High resolution cross-sectional TEM is used to examine the evolution of crystallographic film alignment on an amorphous quartz substrate. The data suggest that the evolution of biaxial alignment is nucleation controlled under these conditions.