Ion-mixed Zr/ceramics interfaces — XPS study

Zr thin films (100 nm) were vacuum-deposited on SiC single crystals and silica glass, and these specimens were irradiated with 80 keV N+ ions to a dose of 1 × 1017/cm2 at about 100 K. RBS showed that an interdiffusion layer of about 7 nm thickness was formed around the interface between the Zr film and the SiC or the SiO2. XPS studies demonstrated that the N+ implantations generate chemical bonds like ZrSi, ZrC, and ZrOSi in the intermixed layer.