Photonic Sintering of Oxide Ceramic Films: Effect of Colored Fe<sub>x</sub>O<sub>y</sub> Nanoparticle Pigments
Evgeniia Gilshtein,
Stefan Pfeiffer,
Severin Siegrist,
Vitor Vlnieska,
Thomas Graule,
Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Affiliations
Evgeniia Gilshtein
Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
Stefan Pfeiffer
Laboratory for High Performance Ceramics, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
Severin Siegrist
Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
Vitor Vlnieska
Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
Thomas Graule
Laboratory for High Performance Ceramics, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
Alumina and zirconia thin films modified with colored nano-FexOy pigments were sintered by the flash-lamp-annealing method. We selected a nano α-Al2O3 and micron α-Al2O3 bimodal mixture as the base precursor material, and we doped it with 5 vol% of FexOy red/brown/black/yellow pigments. The coatings were deposited from nanoparticle dispersions both on glass and on flexible metal foil. The characteristics of the thin films obtained with the use of various additives were compared, including the surface morphologies, optical properties, crystallinities, and structures. Flash lamp annealing was applied with the maximum total energy density of 130 J/cm2 and an overall annealing time of 7 s. Based on the simulated temperature profiles and electron-microscopy results, a maximum annealing temperature of 1850 °C was reached for the red Al2O3: Fe2O3 ceramic film. The results show that red α-Fe2O3 pigments allow for the achievement of maximum layer absorption, which is effective for flash lamp sintering. It was also possible to use the selected red α-Fe2O3 particles for the flash-lamp-assisted sintering of ZrO2 on a 30 µm-thin flexible stainless-steel substrate.
