Dip-coated metal-oxide based thin films studied by Grazing Incidence Small-Angle X-ray Scattering

The sol-gel process combined with dip-coating is a convenient method of making thin films, and has a great potential in a wide range of applications. For example, ZrO₂ films are found to have good chemical and dimensional stability, high melting point, low thermal conductivity and high wear resistance [1]. ZnO films are, for example, used for solar cell applications [2], and SiO₂ films are found to strengthen glass [3]. When the solution is dip-coated onto a substrate, a film is forming. When the sample is heated, particles may form and grow in the film. GISAXS (Grazing Incidence Small-Angle Scattering) resolves nano-scale structure and texture and therefore enables us to study these processes.

Silicon wafers have been coated with zirconia sol and yttria-zirconia sol, and studied using GISAXS at the 7T-MPW beamline at BESSY, Berlin. Here we present GISAXS data from films calcinated at 300, 500 and 700 °C and analyse the effect yttria stabilisation has on zirconia based films.