Optimized magnetron sputtering process for the deposition of gadolinia doped ceria layers with controlled structural properties

Martin Mickan (1) , Pierre Coddet (2) , Julien Vulliet (2) , Amael Caillard (1) , Thierry Sauvage (3) , Anne-Lise Thomann (1)

1 GREMI - Groupe de recherches sur l'énergétique des milieux ionisés
2 DAM - Direction des Applications Militaires
3 CEMHTI - Conditions Extrêmes et Matériaux : Haute Température et Irradiation

Gadolinia doped ceria (GDC) films have been deposited using reactive magnetron sputtering and the influence of the deposition parameters on the properties of the films has been investigated. The oxygen flow rate, the target-substrate distance and the radio frequency substrate bias have been varied and films were deposited with a relatively high power-normalized growth rate of 15-18 nm min-1 W-1 cm². Depending on the target-substrate distance and on the oxygen flow rate fully oxidized as-deposited films were obtained or substoichiometric films, which need to be oxidized by an ex-situ thermal annealing step. These two manufacturing routes (direct deposition of a fully oxidized compound or post-oxidation of a sub-stoichiometric oxide) lead to different preferential orientations ([200] or [111]) of the final oxide film. This is attributed to the oxygen/metal flux ratio, which is modified according to the experimental configuration and the process parameters. Furthermore, the substrate bias was found to further the [111] orientation and thus playing with this parameter allows a fine tuning of the preferential orientation.

Mots clés: Reactive magnetron sputtering; Gadolinia doped ceria; Thin films

Domaines: Génie des procédés; Matériaux

Martin Mickan, Pierre Coddet, Julien Vulliet, Amael Caillard, Thierry Sauvage, et al.. Optimized magnetron sputtering process for the deposition of gadolinia doped ceria layers with controlled structural properties. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2020, 398, pp.126095. ⟨10.1016/j.surfcoat.2020.126095⟩. ⟨hal-03034320⟩