Production and Characterization of Sputtered Y-doped BaZrO3 for Proton Conducting Oxides

Abstract

A comprehensive study was carried out to evaluate single-phase BaZr0.80Y0.20O3-delta thin films produced by RF magnetron sputtering using a single target material. The present study mainly involved three objectives, i.e., production of a single-phase BaZr0.80Y0.20O3-delta sputter target using a deformable compaction die, RF sputtering of thin films using a single target material, and the electrochemical assessment of the BaZr0.80Y0.20O3-delta thin films. A single-phase sputter target with a 2 '' diameter was produced by pressing at 125 MPa via deformable compaction dies and sintering at 1500 degrees C for 10 h. Highly textured BaZr0.80Y0.20O3-delta thin films were obtained by RF sputtering of the target material fabricated in the study. Electrochemical investigations based on 4-probe resistivity measurement and electrochemical impedance spectrometry revealed that (110) oriented BaZr0.80Y0.20O3-delta films exhibited an improved conductivity.