Comparison of Yittria Stabilized Zirconia Electrolytes(YSZ) for Thin Film Solid Oxide Fuel Cell by Atomic Layer Deposition and Sputtering

원자층 증착법과 스퍼터링을 이용한 고체산화물 연료전지용 YSZ 전해질에 관한 연구

In this research, two thin film deposition techniques, Atomic Layer Deposition and Sputtering are carried out for the fabrication of Yittria Stabilized Zirconia electrolyte for thin film Solid Oxide Fuel Cell. Zirconium to Yittrium ratio for both cases is about 1/8. Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM) image shows that the growth rate per hour for Atomic Layer Deposition is faster than for sputtering. X-ray Photo-electron Spectroscopy(XPS) shows that the peaks of both Zirconia and Yittria shift towards higher bending energy for the case of Atomic Layer deposition and thus are more strongly attached to the substrate. Later, Nyquist plot was used to compare the conductivity of Yittria Stabilized Electrolyte for both cases. The conductivity at $300^{\circ}C$ for Atomic Layer Deposited Yittria Stabilized Zirconia is found to be $5{\times}10^{-4}S/cm$ while that for sputtered Yittria Stabilized Zirconia is $2{\times}10^{-5}S/cm$ at the same temperature. The reason for better performance for Atomic Layered YSZ is believed to be the Nano-structured layer fabrication that aids in along the plane conduction as compared to the columnarly structured Sputtered YSZ.