The impact of plasma enhancement on the deposition of carbon‐containing zirconia films by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

• Published in: Plasma processes and polymers 2023-10, Vol.20 (10), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Maaß, Philipp A., Bedarev, Vitali, Chauvet, Laura, Prenzel, Marina, Glauber, Jean‐Pierre, Devi, Anjana, Böke, Marc, Keudell, Achim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon; Crystallization; Electrical resistivity; Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition; MOCVD; PECVD; Precursors; thermal barrier coatings; Thermal conductivity; Thin films; Vapor phases; XPS; Zirconia; Zirconium dioxide
• ISSN: 1612-8850; 1612-8869
• DOI: 10.1002/ppap.202300050

Zirconia layers are often used as thermal barriers. In recent years, depositions by chemical vapor deposition methods using a metalorganic precursor (MOCVD) have been primarily investigated. Here, we combine MOCVD with plasma activation ‐ plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD]) ‐ of the gas phase and/or the growth surface to lower the growth temperature and to allow for a flexible coating design. PECVD causes the precursor to be transformed into a chemically active species, yielding thin films with a five times higher sticking coefficient compared to MOCVD. This leads to the onset of crystallization at lower surface temperatures. Carbon is incorporated at oxygen sites, so that the crystalline structure of zirconia is preserved, but the electrical conductivity is affected. The thermal conductivity is like that of pure zirconia. Zirconia films are deposited by combining an MOCVD process with plasma enhancement for applications as thermal barriers in injection molds. The experiments reveal that plasma enhancement leads to activated precursor fragments in the gas phase, leading to changes in growth temperature, crystallization, chemical composition, and thermal conductivity.