A study of properties of ZrO₂ thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering under different plasma parameters: Biomedical application

ZrO₂ thin films were deposited on 316L stainless steel substrate by a radio-frequency magnetron sputtering system. The substrate bias voltage, the working gas rate and the reactive gas fraction in the gas mixture were varied. These variations produce a variation in the deferent properties of the obtained films. The deposited films were characterized by X-Rays Diffraction, Atomic Force Microscopy, nano-indentation and potentiodynamic polarization. The experimental results show that the film thickness and the roughness of the films are highly influenced by the plasma parameters. XRD results show that the monoclinic phase is predominant in unbiased deposited films. The best anti-corrosion performance and hardness were obtained for ZrO₂ deposited with a substrate bias voltage of −75 V, Ar rate of 6 sccm and oxygen fraction of 25%.