Structural investigations of YSZ coatings prepared by DC magnetron sputtering

(ZrO2)1−x(Y2O3)x thin films were sputter-deposited from metallic targets in various reactive argon–oxygen gas mixtures. Structural investigations have been realised by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The coatings microstructure have been characterised by TEM and their morphology by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) on brittle-fracture cross sections. Chemical compositions have been achieved by Electron Probe Micro-Analysis (EPMA) and by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). Finally, attention was paid to the film optical properties, as assessed via Optical Transmission Interferometry (OTI) as well as spectrophotometry. irst part, we have studied the influence of the argon pressure on the chemical, structural and morphological properties of the coatings. In a second part, we have observed the effect of the yttria content on the structure of the films.