Preparation of ZrO_2 Buffer Layer by Sol-Gel Methods

SiO2 doped ZrO2 buffer layers were successfully prepared by a sol-gel technique using zirconyl chloride octahydrate ZrOC12·8H2O as the precursor on stainless steel and a gold film was deposited on the buffer layer by a vacuum evaporation deposition method. XRD, FTIR, SEM and AES measurements were used to investigate the performance of the layers as well as the physical and chemical changes after annealing. The results show that tetragonal ZrO2 buffer layers possess a preferential orientation at the (200) crystal plane due to the influence of stainless steel substrate.And there is some interdiffusion at the interface of buffer layer and substrate, which improves the adhesion of ZrO2 layer and stainless steel. The measurement of normal emittance(E) of Au-ZrO2 SS before and after 850℃ heat treatment indicates that ZrO2 buffer layers can effectively suppress the interdiffusion of the gold film and the substrate.