Piezoelectric Pb0.7La0.2TiO3 prepared by pulsed laser deposition on (100)InP

La-modified PbTiO₃ (PLT) thin films have been deposited by pulsed laser deposition on (100)InP substrates. The nominal target composition was selected to optimize piezoelectric properties of the material. It is shown that PLT deposition on as-received InP produces amorphous PLT films because of the presence of a native oxide on the substrate. PLT films deposited on bare InP have poor adhesion as a result of the surface reoxidation of the substrate due to the high oxygen pressure required for the deposition of stoichiometric PLT. To prevent substrate oxidation, several buffer oxides (CeO₂, ZrO₂, SrO, Y-stabilized ZrO₂, MgO, and SrTiO₃) have been grown in vacuum on (100)InP. Highest-quality heteroepitaxy was found with Y-stabilized ZrO₂ (YSZ), being 𘜄¢{100} YSZ𘜄¢{100} InP oriented. The PLT deposited on this buffer layer is oriented with the [101] direction perpendicular to the substrate surface plane.     

Structural and electrical properties of La0.5Sr0.5CoO3 films on SrTiO3 and porous a-Al2O3 substrates

Films of La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃ (LSCO) have been deposited on specially treated TiO₂-terminated (001) SrTiO₃ substrate surfaces and on macroporous polycrystalline !-Al₂O₃ substrates, having a mean pore diameter of 80 nm, by pulsed laser deposition. The films deposited on SrTiO₃ are good conducting, (001) textured, and exceptionally smooth (1-2 Å for 100 nm thick films). LSCO films deposited on porous !-Al₂O₃ are polycrystalline and exhibit good crystallographic and electrical properties despite the large substrate roughness and the differences in lattice parameters and crystal structure between the film and the substrate. Different growth modes have been observed on the porous !-Al₂O₃ substrates depending on the oxygen pressure during film deposition. Films grown at an oxygen pressure of 10^-1 mbar are macroporous, whereas films grown at 10^-2 mbar completely cover the substrate pores. In the latter case, strain effects lead to film cracking.     

Resistance Switching Characteristic and Charge Carrier Self-Trapping in Epitaxial Pr0.7（Ca1-xSrx）0.3MnO3 Thin Films

Carrier injection performed in Pro.7 Cao.aMnOa junctions demonstrate resistance switching （RS） characteristic with dramatic changes in both resistances and interface barriers, which suggests a charge carrier self-trapping model in strongly correlated electronic framework. Un-stable RS behaviour without electric fields in epitaxial Pr0.7（Ca1-xSrx）0.3MnO3 （PCSMO） films shows dependences on insulator-metal transition temperature, which indicates that RS process is really related to the intrinsic property of carriers. The switched resistance of epitaxial PCSMO films also depends on the amount of current pulses, which shouM be another evidence of the carrier self-trapping model, similarly to the dependence on the amount of self-trapped charge carriers.     

Comparative analysis of the growth of SmBa2Cu3O7-x thin films by off-axis pulsed laser deposition on different substrates

The growth of SmBa₂Cu₃O_7-x superconducting thin films by off-axis pulsed laser deposition on different substrates (SrTiO₃, MgO, LaAlO₃, and YSZ) has been analyzed by means of resistance vs. temperature and X-ray diffraction measurements. The onset and width of the resistive transition depend on the substrate type and are in the ranges (89-80) K and (1-9) K, respectively. X-ray diffraction spectra show only the 00l reflections, from which the lattice parameter c can be estimated. Moreover, the rocking curves of the 005 peaks give an indication of the films' crystallinity and oxygen stoichiometry.     

Clockwise vs Counter-Clockwise I-V Hysteresis of Point-Contact Metal-Tip/Pr0.7 Ca0.3MnO3/Pt Devices

Metal-tip/Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3/Pt devices possess two types of I-V hysteresis： clockwise vs counter clockwise depending on the tip materials. The criteria for categorization of these two types of devices can be simply based on whether the Gibbs free energy of oxidation for the metal tip is lower or higher than that of PCMO, respectively. While the clockwise hysteresis can be attributed to electric field induced oxidation/reduction, the counter clockwise hysteresis can be explained by oxygen vacancy migration in an electrical field. Alternating-current conductance spectra also reveal distinct hopping barriers between these two categories of devices at high resistive states.     

LaNiO3 under-electrode layers for the growth of textured (Pb0.4Zr0.6)TiO3 thin films using pulsed laser deposition

We investigated the structural properties of LaNiO₃ thin films of three different thicknesses deposited by pulsed laser deposition on Si(001) mainly by using a synchrotron X-ray scattering measurement. The LaNiO₃ thin films were grown with the (00l) preferred growth direction, showing completely random distribution in the in-plane direction. In the early stage of the growth, the film was almost unstrained. However, as the film grew further, tensile strain was markedly involved. Also its surface became rougher but its crystalline quality improved significantly with increasing film thickness. A completely (00l)-oriented (Pb_0.4Zr_0.6)TiO₃ thin film was successfully grown on such a LaNiO₃/Si(001) substrate at a substrate temperature of 350 °C by using the same pulsed laser deposition. Our results show that the LaNiO₃ film can serve effectively as a bottom electrode layer for the preparation of a well-oriented (Pb_0.4Zr_0.6)TiO₃ thin film on Si substrates.     

Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of La-Doped SrTiO3 and Sr2TiO4 by Density Function Theory

The effect of La doping on the electronic structure and optical properties of SrTiO₃ and Sr₂TiO₄ is investigated by the first-principles calculation of plane wave ultrasoft pseudopotential based on the density function theory (DFT). The calculated results reveal that the electron doping in the case of Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃ and Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ can be described within the rigid band model. The La³⁺ ions fully acts as electron donors in Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃ and Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ systems and the Fermi level shifts further into the conduction bands (CBs) for Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ compared to Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃. The two systems exhibit n-type degenerate semiconductor features. At the same time, the density of states (DOS) of the two systems shift towards low energies and the optical band gaps are broadened. The Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ is highly transparent with the transmittance about 90% in the visible range, which is larger than that of Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃(85%). The wide band gap, small transition probability and weak absorption due to the low partial density of states (PDOS) of impurity in the Fermi level result in the optical transparency of the films...     

Structure Stability of LaAlO3 Thin Films on Si Substrates

A series of amorphous and single-crystalline LaAlO3 （LAO） thin films are fabricated by laser molecular-beam epitaxy technique on Si substrates under various conditions of deposition. The structure stability of the LAO films annealed in high temperature and various ambients is studied by x-ray diffraction as well as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the epitaxial LAO films have very good stability, and the structures of amorphous LAO thin films depend strongly on the conditions of deposition and post-annealing. The results reveal that the formation of LAO composition during the deposition is very important for the structure stability of LAO thin films.     

Influence of Ytterbia Content on Residual Stress and Microstructure of Y2O3--ZrO2 Thin Films Prepared by EB-PVD

Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 （YSZ） thin films with different Y2O3 molar contents （0, 3, 7, and 12 mol%） are deposited on BK7 substrates by electron-beam evaporation technique. The effects of different Y2O3 contents on residual stresses and structures of YSZ thin films are studied. Residual stresses are investigated by means of two different techniques： the curvature measurement and x-ray diffraction method. It is found that the evolution of residual stresses of YSZ thin films by the two different methods is consistent. Residual stresses of films transform from compressive stress into tensile stress and the tensile stress increases monotonically with the increase of Y2O3 content. At the same time, the structures of these films change from the mixture of amorphous and monoclinic phases into high temperature cubic phase. The variations of residual stress correspond to the evolution of structures induced by adding of Y2O3 content.     

Ferroelectric Properties of Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 Thin Films Crystallized inDifferent N2/O2 Ambients

Bi3.25La0.75 Ti3O12 （BLT） ferroelectric thin films are deposited by sol-gel method and annealed for crystallizaion in total l eccm N2/02 mixed gas with various ratio at 750℃ for 30rain. The effect of crystallization ambient on the structural and ferroelectric properties of the BLT films is studied. The growth direction and grain size of BLT film are revealed to affect ferroeleetric properties. Alter the BLT film is annealed in 20%O2, the largest P~ value is obtained, which is ascribed to an increase of random orientation and large grain size. The fatigue property is improved with the concentration of oxygen in the ambient increasing, which is ascribed to annealing in the ambient with high concentrated oxygen adequately decreasing the defects related to lack of oxygen.     

Influence of Substrate on the Transportation Properties of Co/Alq3 Granular Films on a Si Wafer

A series of Co0.48 （Alq3）0.52 granular films were deposited on silicon substrates using the co-evaporating technique. A crossover of magnetoresistance （MR） from negative to positive was observed in the samples, due to conducting channel switching. The transport properties of samples are greatly influenced by hydrofluoric acid pretreatment, as a result, positive MR decreases drastically and the temperature dependence of resistance changes a lot near room temperature. The result indicates that the native oxide layer plays an important role in the transport mechanism. Moreover, different resistivities of Si substrates influence the current distribution of conducting channels, leading to different transport behaviors accordingly.     

Fabrication and Characterization of SmCo5/Fe65Co35 and SmCo5/Fe Composite Spring Exchange Magnets

SmCo5/Fe65Co35 and SmCo5/Fe spring exchange magnets are fabricated by dc magnetron sputtering on MgO substrates and 100-nm-thick Si3N4 membranes, respectively. The base pressure of sputtering chamber is kept below 10^-7 Tort, and Ar pressure is 3 to 8mTorr. The samples are characterized by an x-ray diffractometer, a superconducting quantum interference magnetometer, and high resolution magnetic soft x-ray microscopy. We obtain the complete exchange coupling and single phase behaviour of composite magnets. The （BH）max value achieved is 28.8 MGOe.     

Electroluminescence from Multilayered Diamond/CeF3/SiO2 Films

We report a thin film electroluminescent device with a three-layer structure （diamond/CeF3/SiO2 films）, which has a luminance of 1.5 cd/m^2 at dc voltage 215 V. The electroluminescence spectrum at room temperature shows that the main peaks locate at 527 and 593nm, which are attributed to isolated emission centers of Ce^3＋ ions.     

Magnetic Behaviour of Sm2Co7/Fe/Sm2 Co7, Nanocomposite Trilayers with Cr and Ti Additions

Trilayered Sm2Co7/Fe/Sm2Co7 spring exchange magnets are fabricated by dc magnetron sputtering on MgO substrates. Very thin layers （0.3-0.7 nm） of Cr and Ti are added at the interfaces of the two magnetic phases. The thickness of StucCo7 is kept at 20nm and Fe at 6nm while the thickness of Cr and Ti are varied as 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7nm. The base pressure of sputtering chamber is kept below 10^-7 Torr and Ar pressure at 3-8m Torr. The samples are characterized by x-ray diffraction （XRD） and SQUID magnetometer. We report improvement in exchange coupling of nonacomposite magnets by addition of thin layers of Cr at interfaces.     

Microstructure of epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films on MgO substrates

SrRuO₃ thin films have been grown on singular (1 0 0) MgO substrates using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in 30 Pa oxygen ambient and at a temperature of 400-700 °C. Ex situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD) θ/2θ scan indicated that the films deposited above 650 °C were well crystallized though they had a rough surface as shown by atom force microscopy (AFM). XRD Φ scans revealed that these films were composed of all three different types of orientation domains, which was further confirmed by the RHEED patterns. The heteroepitaxial relationship between SrRuO₃ and MgO was found to be [1 1 0] SRO//[1 0 0] MgO and 45°-rotated cube-on-cube [0 0 1] SRO//[1 0 0] MgO. These domain structures and surface morphology are similar to that of ever-reported SrRuO₃ thin films deposited on the (0 0 1) LaAlO₃ substrates, and different from those deposited on (0 0 1) SrTiO₃ substrates that have an atomically flat surface and are composed of only the [1 1 0]-type domains. The reason for this difference was ascribed to the effect of lattice mismatch across the film/substrate interface. The room temperature resistivity of SrRuO₃ films fabricated at 700 °C was 300 μΩ cm. Therefore, epitaxial SrRuO₃ films on MgO substrate could serve as a promising candidate of electrode materials for the fabrication of ferroelectric or dielectric films.     

Deposition of highly oriented Bi12SiO20 thin films on Y-stabilized zirconia and SiO2 by pulsed-laser deposition

We describe the deposition and characterization of Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ (bismuth silicon oxide; BSO) thin films on Y-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and SiO₂ glass substrates by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) for the application of an electric field sensor. It was found that all films deposited on YSZ substrates heated at 400 °C and more were crystallized and the (310) plane was perpendicular to the substrate normal. The highly (310) oriented crystallized films were even deposited on SiO₂ glass substrates, and this will make it possible to grow the crystallized films on the end surface of a SiO₂ glass fiber.     

High-quality epitaxial LaNiO3 thin films on SrTiO3(100) and LaAlO3(100)

LaNiO₃ thin films have been deposited by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO₃(100) and LaAlO₃(100) substrates. The processing conditions have been investigated in order to optimize electrical resistivity, crystal quality, and surface morphology. Excellent properties are achieved at moderate substrate temperature and relatively low oxygen pressure, without the need for annealing. Thickness exerts an important influence on electrical transport, as the electrical resistivity increases quickly in films thicker than a few tens of nanometer. The surface of the films on LaAlO₃ is very flat in all the studied thickness range, but the films on SrTiO₃ develop a pattern of boundaries and even cracks as the thickness is higher. Below the critical thickness, high-quality epitaxial films with very smooth surface and low electrical resistivity are obtained under the optimum conditions of substrate temperature and oxygen pressure. The optimum processing conditions are different depending on the substrate, and control is especially critical in films deposited on SrTiO₃.     

Correlation between Light Emissions from Amorphous-Si：H/SiO2 and nc-Si/SiO2 Multilayers

We investigate the properties of light emission from amorphous-Si：H/SiO2 and nc-Si/SiO2 multilayers （MLs）. The size dependence of light emission is well exhibited when the a-Si：H sublayer thickness is thinner than 4 nm and the interface states are well passlvated by hydrogen. For the nc-Si/Si02 MLs, the oxygen modified interface states and nanocrystalline silicon play a predominant role in the properties of light emission. It is found that the light emission from nc-Si/SiO2 is in agreement with the model of interface state combining with quantum confinement when the size of nc-Si is smaller than 4 nm. The role of hydrogen and oxygen is discussed in detail.     

Influence of microstructures on exchange bias behaviors of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/La0.33Ca0.67MnO3 bilayers

Ferromagnetic La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (LSMO) and antiferromagnetic La_0.33Ca_0.67MnO₃ (LCMO) layers were grown on SrTiO₃ (STO) substrates by the pulsed laser deposition technique. LSMO films had rougher surfaces and larger grain sizes than LCMO films. Fully strained bilayers, in which each layer was as thin as 10 nm, were prepared by changing their stacking sequences, i.e. LSMO/LCMO/STO and LCMO/LSMO/STO. The former had higher T_C (350 K) than the latter (300 K), and exchange bias effects were only observed in the former bilayers. This revealed that microstructures could play an important role in the transport and magnetic properties of manganese oxide thin films.     

PREPARATION OF a-AXIS ORIENTED YBa2Cu3Ox THIN FILMS

The a-axis oriented YBa₂Cu₃O_x(YBCO) thin films could be grown on (100) SrTiO₃(STO) substrates with STO buffer layers by dc and rf magnetron sputtering either by low-ering the deposition temperature, or by using a self-template technique. For the latter, the resistivity of the thin film at 290K along the substrate [001] direction is about four times larger than that in the [010] direction. The zero resistance temperatures T_c0 are 89 K in both directions. So high quality a-axis oriented YBCO thin films can be prepared by the self-template technique. Also the T_c0 increase monotonously with the reduction of the thickness of the YBCO seed layer.