Structural, electrical, and decorative properties of sputtered zirconium thin films during post-annealing process

Zirconium thin films were deposited on a glass substrate using direct current magnetron sputtering technique andthen post-annealed at different temperatures (100°C to 500°C in steps of 100°C) in an oxygen constant flow. Thedependence of crystallographic structure, surface morphology, chemical composition, and electrical and decorativeproperties of the films on the annealing temperature was investigated. X-ray diffraction showed different phases ofzirconium oxide at different annealing temperatures. It is observed that crystallite size and nanostrain increase withannealing temperature. Atomic force microscopy results showed granular structure in all samples, while both grain sizeand film surface roughness increased with the annealing temperature. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis data showed thatthe ratio of O/Zr was approximately 1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 2.1, and 2.2 at annealing temperatures of 100°C, 200°C, 300°C, 400°C, and500°C, respectively. The annealed films at higher temperatures (400°C and 500°C) were transparent, while annealed filmsat lower temperatures (100°C to 300°C) were grey and brown, respectively. The variation of electrical resistance ofsamples with applied voltage was approximately constant, while it increased with annealing temperature.

Keywords:

Thin films , ZrOx , Crystallographic structure , Morphology , Electrical resistance , Decorative properties