Determination of oxide thickness on an Si2N2OZrO2 composite by spectroscopic ellipsometry

Abstract Initial oxidation behaviour of an Si 2 N 2 OZrO 2 composite material has been investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The material was exposed to air in the temperature range of 1000–1450 °C and the oxide layer thickness was determined by SE using the Bruggeman effective medium approximation for the modelling of the oxide layer. It was shown that the oxide film on a porous Si 2 N 2 OZrO 2 material can be characterized by SE. The results provide important information about film growth in the initial stage of oxidation of this composite. The optical constants for the composite and ZrO 2 were determined.