Preparation of zirconia thin films via sol-gel process from inorganic precursor

摘要

ZrO_2 thin films were prepared by sol-gel technology from suitable zirconia aqueous colloidal suspensions conatining nano-crystalline ZrO_2 at room temperature synthesized by hydrothermal process from inorganic precursor (ZrOCl_2 centre dot 8H_2O). By adding a soluble organic binder PVP to the suspension prior to application, it substantially increased the coating refractive index and the abrasion-resistance as well as the laser damage threshold. The features of the coatings and the colloidal suspensions were investigawted. Multilayer highly reflective dielectric coatings were also elaborated by laying down quarterwave-thick alternating coatings of the binder-aided zirconia and silica, which was prepared with the sol-gel process from TEOS. Laser damage thresholds of 20 and 18 J/cm~2 (1064nm, lns) were acheived for single ZrO_2-PVP coating and ZrO_2-PVP/SiO_2 multilayers respectively.