Microstructural and tribological studies of Al2O3/ZrO2 nano multilayer thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Balakrishnan G^{1, 7}*, Elangovan T^{2, 3}, Shin-Sung Yoo³, Dae-Eun- Kim³, Kuppusami P⁴, Venkatesh Babu R⁵, Sastikumar D⁶, Jung il Song⁷

¹Department of Nanotechnology, Centre of Excellence in Patterned Multiferroics & Nanotechnology, Bharath Institute of Science and Technology, Bharath University, Chennai 600073, India

²Department of Physics, PSG College of Arts & Science, Coimbatore 641014, India

³Center for Nano-Wear, Yonsei University, Seoul-120749, South Korea

⁴Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Sathyabama University, Chennai 600119, India

⁵Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Lakshmi Ammal Engineering College, Chennai 600073, India

⁶Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 620015, India

⁷Department of Mechanical Engineering, Changwon National University, Changwon 641773, South Korea

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2017, 8 (4), pp 410-417

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2017.6434

Publication Date (Web): Mar 14, 2017

E-mail: balaphysics76@gmail.com

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Abstract

Nanostructured single layer aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃), single layer zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) and the (Al₂O₃/ZrO₂) nano multilayer films were deposited on Si (100) substrates at an optimized oxygen pressure of 3×10^-2 mbar at room temperature by pulsed laser deposition. The Al₂O₃layerwas kept constant at 5 nm, while ZrO₂layer thickness was varied from 5 nm to 20 nm. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies of single layer of Al₂O₃film indicated the cubic γ-Al₂O₃, while the single layer of ZrO₂ indicated both the monoclinic and tetragonal phases. The Al₂O₃/ZrO₂multilayer films of 5/5 nm and 5/10 nm indicated the tetragonal phase of ZrO₂with nanocrystalline nature. The FESEM and AFM studies showed the dense and smooth morphology of the films. The pin-on disc revealed that the 5/10 nm multilayer film has low friction coefficient ~ 0.10. The wear rate of multilayers film is half of the wear rate of the single layer films and 5/10 nm multilayer film showed a reduced wear rate when it is compared to other single and multilayers. The Al₂O₃-ZrO₂ ceramics find wide applications in wear and corrosion resistance components, high temperature applications and bio-implant materials.