Thin Films of Zirconia-Phosphate Glasses Deposited by an Aerosol CVD Process

Abstract
The polycrystalline state of the ZrO₂ films was an disadvantage for some specific protective coating applications. To resolve this fact we proposed to obtain an amorphous thin film by addition of P₂O₅, which will act as glass formator agent. With an aerosol CVD process by using zirconium acetylacetonate and triphenyl phosphate dissolved in a mixture of acetylacetone and benzyl alcohol, we achieved to deposit mixed P₂O₅-ZrO₂ films between 480°C and 600°C. The P₂O₅ content varied from 0% up to 60%. By measuring systematically the composition of the film we have noticed the influence on the composition of the films, on the one hand of the hygrometric degree of the carrier gas and on the other hand of the temperature used for the dissolution of the organometallic precursors in the solvent. The highest the dissolution temperature was, the most the phosphorus content was. After an annealing at 500°C during one hour, the films exhibited by Xray diffraction analysis an amorphous structure and a very good transparency. More over the evolution of the I.R. spectra between 1200 cm^-1 and 900 cm^-1 and arround 400 cm^-l are discussed in function of the composition of the films.