Effect of ion-beam parameters on in-plane texture of yttria-stabilized zirconia thin films

Biaxially textured thin films of 8-mole%-yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) were deposited by ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) on polished Hastelloy-C tapes. These films serve as epitaxial template layers for highly textured Y-Ba-Cu-O superconductor thin films. YSZ films were deposited to a gross thickness of ≈=1.6 μm by electron beam evaporation. A 300-eV Ar/10% O₂ ion beam bombarded the substrate at an off-normal angle during deposition, the ion-to-atom arrival ratio (r-value) was varied by independently adjusting the deposition rate and the ion current density. X-ray pole figures and φ scans were used to investigate in-plane texture, profilometry and spectral reflectivity were utilized to measure the net film thickness. A two-dimensional texture/thickness contour map was generated and used to optimize the in-plane texture of the YSZ and to minimize processing time