Zirconium dioxide layers

Description

Zirconium dioxide, also known as zirconia (ZrO₂), thin flims are obtained by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on range of substrates, like Si, GaN, SiC, graphene, SiO₂ etc. The material is formed in a double exchange chemical reaction between two reactants (precursors) such as a deionized water (oxygen precursor) and a tetrakis(dimetyloamido)zirconium(IV) - TDMAZ (zirconium precursor). ZrO₂ can be grown at the temperature range from 70°C to 300°C. The maximum size of the substrate is 20 cm of a diameter.

Specification

• Thickness: 10 - 3000 nm
• Growth rate: 0.2 nm/minute
• Resistivity: > 10⁸ Ωcm
• Energy gap: 6.0 eV
• Refractive index: 2.1 (635 nm)
• Relative permittivity: 23±3
• Hydrophobic properties
• Surface roughness: 0.7 nm < RMS < 30 nm
• Structure: polycrystalline - tetragonal phase or amorphous layers
• Average transmission in visible spectra:> 80%
• Uniformity of coatings

Applications

ZrO₂ is widely studied material because of the interesting physical and chemical properties. This material is characterized by high hardness and mechanical strength, good dielectric properties, low thermal conductivity, chemical stability and high refractive index. This oxide material is biocompatible, thus can find applications in medicine and dentistry for the manufacture of prostheses and implants. ZrO₂ can be used as an insulator in electronic devices, as  coating with high refractive index of optical  elements in lasers and microscopes, and as  barriers and protective layers as the active layer in photovoltaic structures.