Electrical properties of thin yttria-stabilized zirconia overlayers produced by atomic layer deposition for solid oxide fuel cell applications

Thin films of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte were prepared by atomic layer deposition at 300 8C for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications. YSZ samples of 300–1000 nm thickness were deposited onto La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSM) cathodes. A microstructural study was performed on these samples and their electrical properties were characterised between 100 and 390 8C by impedance spectroscopy. A remarkable feature is that the as-deposited layers were already crystalline without any annealing treatment. Their resistance decreased when reducing the layer thickness; nevertheless, their conductivity and activation energy were significantly lower than those reported in the literature for bulk YSZ