ION-BEAM-INDUCED DENSIFICATION OF ZIRCONIA SOL-GEL THIN-FILMS

Densification of sol-gel zirconia films was achieved using ion implantation instead of conventional heat treatment. Densification was observed with Xe+-ion doses as low as 10(14) ions/cm2. Ion implantation resulted in hydrogen and carbon losses as measured by forward recoil elastic spectrometry (FRES) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) using C-12(alpha,alpha)C-12 resonance, respectively. The density and chemical composition of the highest-dose implanted sol-gel films were comparable with those obtained by high-temperature sintering. The chemical and microstructural modifications in the films were attributed to both electronic interactions and nuclear collisions between the Xe+ ions and the target atoms.