Abstract
A study of the major deposition parameters, including substrate temperature and oxygen partial pressure, affecting the optical quality of electron beam evaporated zirconium oxide films is presented. The films were found to be optically inhomogeneous. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that the films had an excess of oxygen. XPS suggested that the excess oxygen may be due to adsorbed water. However, an increase in the oxygen content with oxygen partial pressure indicated that some of the excess oxygen may have been embedded in the films during deposition.