Properties of ZrOO2R thin films deposited by plasma assisted pulsed reactive magnetron sputtering

Using reactive magnetron sputtering from metallic cathodes, ZrO2 thin films on quartz substrates were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering and analyzed with respect to the optical, mechanical and morphological properties. A new process based on plasma assisted magnetron sputtering with the use of an additional plasma source was developed and applied. Different process parameters (total pressure, partial pressure, power of ion source) were varied. The influence of these parameters on the optical (refractive index, band edge) and morphological (density, surface roughness, stress) properties is discussed.