XPS STUDIES OF THE STABILITY OF A ZIRCONIUM CARBIDE FILM IN THE PRESENCE OF ZIRCONIUM OXIDE AND HYDROGEN

Abstract

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been used to study the interfacial chemistries of a 65-Å film prepared by depositing zirconium in an oxidizing environment onto a methane-pretreated 11-Å thick zirconium oxide film, which initially was deposited onto a gold substrate. The second metal deposition results in an outermost region composed of a mixed zirconium oxide, while below there is metallic zirconium followed by zirconium carbide and carbon on top of the first zirconium oxide film, which is itself in contact with the gold. The carbide component showed no changes on heating to 425°C, on treating with a hydrogen plasma at room temperature, or on heating the resulting film to 425°C. The oxide layers do show characteristic changes, and this also contrasts with earlier observations for a zirconium sulphide film. The zirconium carbide Zr3d 5/2 component has a binding energy of 180.6 eV.