Characterization of zirconia coatings deposited by inductively coupled plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition

Thin films of zirconia have been deposited by an inductively coupled plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition reactor from a tetra (tert-butoxy)-zircon precursor diluted in Ar and O-2 gas mixture. An independent rf generator is used to carefully control the substrate negative bias voltage during the deposition. Zirconia thin films, with thickness up to 10 mu m were deposited on Si(100) polished wafers under different plasma conditions. Correlation between deposition parameters and microstructure has been established showing that the ion bombardment has a large influence on the coating characteristics. In particular, the possibility of tailoring mechanical properties of the films by controlling the applied de bias voltage is discussed. (C) 2000 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-2101(00)14304-0].