Orthorhombic ZrO2 thin films via atomic layer deposition from tris(dimethylamino)cyclopentadienyl zirconium and water




Ali, Basit; Ghiyasi, Ramin; Pekkanen, Joona; Lastusaari, Mika; Karppinen, Maarit

PublisherElsevier

2026

 Materials Today Communications

115134

52

2352-4928

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2026.115134

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2026.115134

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/523236404



Different zirconium dioxide phases exhibit attractive functional properties, making them suitable for various applications. Among these, orthorhombic o-ZrO2 is of particular interest due to its distinctive ferroelectric behavior. However, synthesizing phase-pure o-ZrO2 thin films has remained challenging. Here, we demonstrate a robust water-based atomic layer deposition (ALD) process for o-ZrO2 thin films using tris(dimethylamino)cyclopentadienyl zirconium as the precursor. The films were characterized by grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. In the deposition temperature range of 225–250 °C, the process yielded nearly phase-pure o-ZrO2 films with a growth-per-cycle (GPC) of 0.5 Å/cycle, whereas above 275 °C, monoclinic m-ZrO2 films were obtained with GPC of 0.6 Å/cycle. Interestingly, longer relaxation times during deposition were found to affect the growth rate, which we tentatively attributed to changes in crystallization dynamics and stabilization of different orthorhombic space groups.


Funding was received from Business Finland CHEMI-SEMI Co-Innovation project and the European Union ERC AdG, UniEn-MLD, No. 101097815. However, the views and opinions shared are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the awarding authority can be held liable for them.


Last updated on 08/05/2026 08:24:29 AM