Zirconium Dioxide Thin Films Characterized by XPS

In this work we use x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to analyze the principal core levels of a ZrO2 thin film deposited on glass using Zr(OPri)3(dpm) (OPri=isopropoxy; hdpm=2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione) as precursor. Besides the general survey, charge corrected binding energies for the Zr 3d5/2, Zr 3d3/2, O 1s, and C 1s photoelectrons are reported. Deconvolution of the O 1s signal reveals the presence of –OH groups and adsorbed water, whose presence can be related to the air exposure of the film between its preparation and XPS analysis.