The purpose of this paper was to analyze structural and optical properties of gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC, Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95) thin films. At first the ceria-gadolinia multilayer sandwich systems (4-12 layers) were deposited using reactive magnetron sputtering in the O2/Ar gas mixtures. The films were formed with ≈ 90% ceria and ≈ 10% gadolinia. The GDC thin films deposited on Si (111) substrate were annealed at 600• C for 1 h in air. The thickness of the formed GDC multilayer systems was about 600 nm. The GDC thin film microstructure was investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The texture coefficient T c(hkl) of GDC films was evaluated from the X-ray diffraction patterns. The crystallite size of GDC films was estimated from the Scherrer equation. Optical properties of the annealed GDC thin films were examined using a laser ellipsometer. The results show that the number of layers has the influence on GDC thin film formation. As follows from the analysis of structural and optical properties of GDC 12 layer system annealed at 600• C for one hour in air has the highest refractive index n = 2.17.
Fabrication process of micro-SOFC membrane structure using the bulk micromachining of silicon technique with SiO 2 and Si 3 N 4 sacrificial layers is presented in this study. The process involves back side photolithography, magnetron sputtering of platinum thin films, thermal evaporation of YSZ electrolyte, deep reactive ion etching of silicon, and, finally, release of free-standing membrane using CF 4 /O 2 plasma etching. X-ray analysis shows the cubic phase of YSZ electrolyte and platinum electrodes. Modelling of normal stress distribution in the micro-SOFC structure with the Si 3 N 4 sacrificial layer shows that at high temperatures the substrate expands less than the coating, causing tensile stresses in the substrate area next to the coating and compressive stresses in the coating, as the substrate material has a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than the layered Pt/YSZ/Pt coating.
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