SIMS study of oxygen diffusion in monoclinic HfO2

The diffusion of oxygen in dense ceramics of monoclinic HfO2 was studied by means of (18O/16O) isotope exchange annealing and subsequent determination of isotope depth profiles by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry. Anneals were performed in the temperature range of 573 ≤T/K≤ 973 at an oxygen partial pressure of pO2=200 mbar. All measured isotope profiles exhibited two features: the first feature, closer to the surface, was attributed mainly to slow oxygen diffusion in an impurity silicate phase; the second feature, deeper in the sample, was attributed to oxygen diffusion in bulk monoclinic HfO2. The activation enthalpy of oxygen tracer diffusion in bulk HfO2 was found to be ΔHD∗≈0.5 eV.