Chemical composition and microstructure of zirconium oxynitride thin layers from the surface to the substrate-coating interface

The optical, electrical and corrosion resistance properties of thin layers of zirconium oxynitride are directly related to their structure and chemical composition. In the present work a study of the chemical composition of a thin film of ZrOxNy from the surface to the substrate-film interface is performed, and its structure is determined. The coatings were deposited via RF magnetron sputtering, the chemical composition was analyzed by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the microstructure was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and the morphology was analyzed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD and TEM analysis showed that the films exhibited two crystallographic phases: monoclinic ZrO2 and cubic Zr2ON2. XPS results indicated variations in the composition of the ZrO2 and ZrON2 as a function of the depth.