Structural modification of single-axis-oriented yttria-stabilized-zirconiafilms under zirconium ion bombardment

Crystal size and orientation control of yttria-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ) fi lms produced by pulsed-laser deposition under zirconium-ion bombardment are reported. A structure development mechanism is proposed based on the corre lation between ablated plasma chemistry, velocity distributions of atomic a nd molecular species in the plasma, bombardment energy, time, incidence ang le, film crystal size, and orientation. A near-room-temperature growth of s ingle-axis-oriented YSZ films with (002) texture on randomly oriented polyc rystalline substrates is demonstrated. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physi cs.