Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition of Zirconium Oxide Thin Films and Its Application to Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Zirconium oxides were deposited using plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) involving (2-(N-methylamino)1-MethylEthyleneCyclopentadienyl)Bis(DiMethylAmino)Zr (abbreviated as CMEN-Zr) and oxygen plasma zirconium sources. The oxide thin films demonstrate temperature-independent growth rates per cycle of 0.94 A/cycle at 150–215 °C. ZrO2 characterized numerous analytical tools, i.e., X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for chemical bonding state composition, diffraction crystallinity, force microscopy surface morphology, field-emission scanning electron cross-sectional analysis, spectroscopic ellipsometry UV–visible spectrophotometry optical characterization, capacitance–voltage measurements dielectric constants defects, current–voltage characteristics electrical information. insulating features the crystalline stoichiometric implemented in anode composites to evaluate influence ALD-based nano-features on electrochemical performance solid fuel cells, with main emphasis performance. presence nanomaterials Ni/YSZ is analyzed determine negative effects degradation cell cells (SOFCs). artificial design was proven be effective controlling long proper material adopted SOFC electrodes.