Charging kinetics in virgin and 1MeV-electron irradiated yttria-stabilized zirconia in the 300–1000K range

• Published in: Materials science & engineering. B, Solid-state materials for advanced technology Vol. 130; no. 1-3; pp. 177 - 183
• Main Authors: Thomé, T., Braga, D., Blaise, G., Cousty, J., Pham Van, L., Costantini, J.M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-06-2006
• ISSN: 0921-5107
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mseb.2006.03.005

A study performed with a dedicated scanning electron microscope (SEM) on the surface electrical properties of (100)-oriented yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) single crystals irradiated with 1MeV electrons is presented. When compared with virgin YSZ, the 1MeV-irradiated YSZ shows a decrease of the intrinsic total electron emission coefficient sigma0 and an increase of the time constant tau associated with the charging kinetics of the material at room temperature. These measurements performed with the SEM beam at 10keV indicate that the defects induced by the 1MeV-electron irradiation generate a positive electric field of the order of 0.5X106V/m at a depth of about 1mum that prevents electrons to escape. When the SEM beam with a 1.1keV energy is used, a smaller field (0.5X103V/m) is detected closer to the surface (20nm). The fading of these fields during the thermal annealing in the 400-1000K temperature range provides information on the nature of defects induced by the 1MeV-electron irradiation.