Enhanced capacitance of composite anodic ZrO₂ films comprising high permittivity oxide nanocrystals and highly resistive amorphous oxide matrix

Anodic oxide films with nanocrystalline tetragonal ZrO₂ precipitated in an amorphous oxide matrix were formed on Zr-Si and Zr-Al alloys and had significantly enhanced capacitance in comparison with those formed on zirconium metal. The capacitance enhancement was associated with the formation of a high-temperature stable tetragonal ZrO₂ phase with high relative permittivity as well as increased ionic resistivity, which reduces the thickness of anodic oxide films at a certain formation voltage. However, there is a general empirical trend that single-phase materials with higher permittivity have lower ionic resistivity. This study presents a novel material design based on a nanocrystalline-amorphous composite anodic oxide film for capacitor applications.