In¯uence of sputtering pressure on the structure and properties of ZrO2 ®lms prepared by rf reactive sputtering

Zirconium oxide (ZrO2) ®lms have been prepared by rf reactive magnetron sputtering at different sputtering pressures. It is found that the monoclinic phase is the dominant phase in the ®lms and there is a small fraction of tetragonal phase in the ®lms prepared in the low pressure region. The in¯uence of sputtering pressure on the microstructure, residual stress and optical properties of the ®lms has been studied. The ®lms have been characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and optical spectroscopy. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.