Morphology and thermal conductivity of yttria-stabilized zirconia coatings

An electron beam directed vapor deposition method was used to grow 7 Wt-% Y2O3-ZrO2 (7YSZ) coatings and the effects of substrate rotation upon the coating porosity, morphology, texture, and thermal conductivity were explored. As the rotation rate was increased, the texture changed from l 1 1) to (. 00). Under stationary deposition, the coatings were composed of straight columns, while low-frequency rotation resulted in wavy columns. Increases in rotation rate resulted in a gradual straightening and narrowing of the growth columns. The pore fraction slowly decreased as the rotation rate increased. The thermal conductivity was found to be inversely related to the pore fraction. The structural and thermal conductivity alterations are a result of changes to flux shadowing associated with specimen rotation in a gas jet-entrained vapor plume. The minimum thermal conductivity at a low rotation rate is 0.8 W/(m K), well below that of conventionally deposited coatings. (c) 2006 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.