SYNTHESIS AND PROPERTIES OF ZIRCONIA THIN-FILMS

Thin films of zirconia have been synthesized using reactive DC magnetr on sputtering. It has been found that films with good optical constant s, high refractive index (1.9 at 600 nm) and low extinction coefficien t can be prepared al ambient temperatures. The optical constants and b and gnp and hence the composition nle dependent on the deposition para meters such as target power, rate of deposition and oxygen background pressure. Thermal annealing of the films revealed that tile films show ed optical and crystalline inhomogeneity and also large variations in optical constants.