Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 films were fabricated with a 0.05 M solution by a sol-gel process at temperatures between 550 and 650 °C. Analysis by x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy revealed that the films annealed at 650 °C showed pure perovskite phase, tetragonal structure, and columnar grains with an average grain size of 150 nm. Electrical measurements performed on the films annealed at 650 °C showed two dielectric peaks in the dielectric constant–temperature curve, a remnant polarization of 1.4 μC/cm2, a coercive field of 18.3 kV/cm, and good insulating property. The measured pyroelectric coefficient for the films annealed at 650 °C was larger than 3.1 × 10−4 C/m2K at the temperatures ranging from 10 to 26 °C and reached the maximum value of 4.1 × 10−4 C/m2K at 16 °C. The excellent pyroelectric property rendered the Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 films annealed at 650 °C promising for uncooled infrared detectors and thermal imaging applications.

A spray pyrolysis deposition technique has been used to prepare thick films of half-metallic ferromagnet La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 on LaAlO3 (001) and yttria-stabilized zirconia Y–ZrO2 (100) single-crystal substrates. The films deposited on LaAlO3 (001) exhibited a high degree of crystallinity with both in-plane and out-of-plane texture and a very sharp insulator to metal transition at TIM = 270 K. The intrinsic magnetoresistance (MR) reaches 70% at TIM in 3 T, a similar value as in the bulk material of the same composition. The extrinsic intergrain MR, however, is only 0.5% at 40 K in 3 T, 50 times smaller than for the bulk. By contrast, films grown on YSZ single crystals have a broad insulator to metal transition at a lower TIM of approximately 220 K and poor intrinsic MR. They show however an extrinsic MR as large as in the bulk. The extrinsic MR is interpreted as arising from crystalline and magnetic disorder at the grain boundaries.

Pure and neodymium-doped gadolinium calcium oxoborate crystals of high quality were grown by the Czochralski method. The orientation of crystal was precisely determined, and the samples for measurements were prepared. Through synchrotron x-ray topography and high-resolution x-ray diffractometry, the twin structure was discovered. Some properties such as the figure of merit value, and dielectric, piezoelectric, and elastic constants were measured along with a discussion of the anisotropy of the laser properties.

When a homogeneous amorphous Pd40.5Ni40.5P19 alloy was subjected to thermal annealing for 30 min at various temperatures, novel microstructures were observed. At an annealing temperature of 603 K, phase separation of the amorphous phase dominated. At 628 K, a precipitation reaction proceeded first. After its completion, a eutectic growth set in. At 638 K, metastable spinodal decomposition occurred first, followed by a eutectic growth. Finally at 673 K, crystal growth of crystalline spinodal network was fast enough to compete with a eutectic growth.

Antimony oxide nanoparticles were synthesized in the presence of the polyvinyl alcohol in water solution through the reaction between SbCl3 and NaOH. The size of the particle ranges from 10 to 80 nm, and the largest one can even reach 200 nm, which may begin to grow in the initial stage of the reflux. Transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) were used to characterize the microstructure of these nanoparticles. Using silicon single crystals as internal standards, the polycrystalline diffraction pattern analysis shows only presence of cubic Sb2O3 phase. The bright-field micrograph displays that the particles may have various polyhedral configurations. HREM results show that the particles are crystallographically perfect. Moreover, the formation mechanism of nanoparticles is discussed.

The possibility of an in situ toughening through the β → α phase transition was evaluated on liquid-phase-sintered SiC (with Al2O3 and Y2O3 as additives). Dense hot-pressed materials with an equiaxed morphology were annealed at 1850, 1900 and 1950 °C for 1 to 4 h so the effect of time, temperature, composition, and amount of second phase could be investigated. Microstructure features revealed that 1900 °C was the best temperature in producing a high percentage of elongated grains with limited grain coarsening and reduction of second-phase pockets. Mean grain size and aspect ratios increased from 0.5 to 1.5 μm and to 5, respectively, during the first 2 h of treatment at 1900 °C and then maintained a constant value. The amount and composition of second phase influenced the rate of transformation from equiaxed to elongated grain morphology. Toughness increased from 3.3 to 5.5 Mpa · m1/2 in 1900 °C annealed samples due to a crack-deflection mechanism.

The relationship between the dielectric properties of the complex perovskite (Pb1−xCax)(Mg0.33Ta0.67)O3 ceramics, where 0.45 ≤ × ≤ 0.60, and the dielectric polarizability, related to bond valences of A-site ions, was investigated at microwave frequencies. As the Ca content (x) increased, the deviation of the observed dielectric polarizabilities, calculated by the Clausius–Mosotti equation from the theoretical values calculated by the additivity rule of dielectric polarizability, decreased from −3% to −0.69%. It was found that this deviation was related to the bond valence of the A-site. Smaller negative deviation corresponded to the cations with lower bond valence, and larger negative deviation corresponded to the cations with higher bond valence. Also, the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (TCF) was affected by the bond valence of the A-site, and then TCF decreased with decreasing bond valence of the A-site in ABO3 perovskite compounds.

The subsolidus phase relations in the La–Fe–Al–O system were investigated for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications. Five compounds, LaAlO3, LaAl11O18, LaFe12O19, AlFeO3, and LaFeO3, coexist in the La–Fe–Al–O system at 1380 °C in air. The microstructure and composition of the samples were studied by x-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. Based on experimental evidence, a phase diagram of the La2O3–Al2O3–Fe2O3 system has been proposed.

The influence of the RuO2 bottom electrode microstructure on the texture and ferroelectric properties of sol-gel PZT in RuO2/PZT/RuO2/Pt capacitors is discussed. For high growth temperatures, RuO2 has a columnar microstructure and a mixed (100)/(110) texture, attributed to epitaxial growth on Pt(111) and TiO2 (110) grains of the preannealed Pt / Ti layer. The mixed orientation of RuO2 resulted in a mixed PZT texture and slanted ferroelectric hysteresis characteristic. As the RuO2 growth temperature was reduced, the microstructure of the RuO2 layer turned to fine-grained equiaxed, with a grain size of approximately 10 nm, and PZT developed a sharp (111) texture (I111/I100 > 100) resulting in a rectangular hysteresis characteristic and a remanent polarization >30 μC/cm2. The emergence of a strong (111) fiber texture in PZT on fine-grained RuO2 shed new light on the orientation selection mechanisms in sol-gel-prepared PZT layers. Possible applications of this phenomenon for high-density ferroelectric memories with a stacked layout are briefly discussed.

Dielectric properties and the phase compositions of (1−x)Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3−xPbTiO3 ceramics were investigated. A morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) in the system between pseudocubic and tetragonal phase regions has been identified to lie in the composition range x = 0.34–0.38 by means of x-ray diffraction and dielectric measurements. The samples of composition lying near the MPB have good dielectric properties, but at the same time, exhibit two dielectric peaks. The possible reasons for the occurrence of dielectric bipeaks are discussed. One dielectric peak is phase transition peak, and the other peak lying in 130–150 °C temperature range is suggested to result from structure defects in the ceramics.

Single-phase filled skutterudite compounds, CeyFexCo4−xSb12 (x = 0 to 3.0, y = 0 to 0.74), were synthesized by a melting method. The effects of Fe content and Ce filling fraction on the thermoelectric properties of CeyFexCo4−xSb12 were investigated. The lattice thermal conductivity of Ce-saturated CeyFexCo4−xSb12, y being at the maximum corresponding to x, decreased with increasing Fe content (x) and reached its minimum at about x = 1.5. When x was 1.5, lattice thermal conductivity decreased with increasing Ce filling fraction till y = 0.3 and then began to increase after reaching the minimum at y = 0.3. Hole concentration and electrical conductivity of Cey Fe1.5Co2.5Sb12 decreased with increasing Ce filling fraction. The Seebeck coefficient increased with increasing Ce filling fraction. The greatest dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit T value of 1.1 was obtained at 750 K for the composition of Ce0.28Fe1.52Co2.48Sb12.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to study the cracks developed on thin-film coatings on a polymer substrate subjected to external tension. To conduct in situ tensile tests in AFM, a special stage has been built. A new technique to image the same control area at different strains was developed and used to study the propagation of a crack with increasing strain in magnetic tapes. Metal particulate tapes developed numerous cracks of shorter length, perpendicular to the loading direction. In contrast, metal-evaporated tapes developed cracks that extend edge to edge. The variation of the crack width and the spacing with strain were measured and explained with the help of models based on elasticity.

The effects of strain hardenability and strain rate sensitivity on the plastic flow and deformation inhomogeneity during equal channel angular pressing were studied using a finite element method analysis. In this study, perfect plastic nonhardening and rate-insensitive materials, and rate-sensitive materials were considered. In case of the nonhardening and rate-insensitive materials, the deformed geometry was predicted to be quite uniform and homogeneous. Deformation inhomogeneity developed, however, in materials with finite work-hardening exponent and strain-rate sensitivity. The corner gap formed in strain-hardening materials whereas the upper and lower channel gaps formed in strain-rate-sensitive materials. The deformation inhomogeneity was strongly dependent on the relative effects of strain-hardening exponent and strain-rate sensitivity. The predictions on the deformation inhomogeneity and the formation of corner and channel gaps were compatible with the experimental data published in the literature.

During thermal cycling through the α–β phase transformation under the action of a small external biasing stress, Ti alloys exhibit an average deformation stress exponent of unity and achieve superplastic strains. We report tensile experiments on Ti–6Al–4V with an applied stress of 4.5 MPa, aimed at understanding the failure processes during transformation superplasticity. The development of cavities was assessed as a function of superplastic elongation, and macroscopic neck formation was quantified at several levels of elongation by digital imaging techniques. The effects of thermal inhomogeneity on neck initiation and propagation were also elucidated experimentally. Tensile ductility during transformation superplasticity is compared with that during isothermal creep at the average, effective cycling temperature, and a numerical model is used to show the effect of thermal gradients in limiting superplastic elongation.

Glass-ceramics containing a large amount of calcium pyrophosphate (β–Ca2P2O7) crystal were prepared via crystallization and sintering; compacts of a calcium phosphate glass powders with a composition of 60CaO · 30P2O5 · 5TiO2 · 5Na2O (in mol%) were heated for 3–6 h at 850 °C in air. The compacts were densified by the viscous flow of the glassy phases during heating. The calcium phosphate glass-ceramics were found to show a bending strength of approximately 100 MPa, and they were easy to machine, as confirmed by a drilling test using a conventional carbide tool. The machinability is thought to arise from the microstructure consisting predominantly of the interlocking and platelike β–Ca2P2O7 precipitated in the glass.

The photoluminescence of terbium-activated yttrium silicate with the general formula Y2−XTbxSiO5 was investigated as a function of Tb3+ concentration. Especially, the main attention was focused on the 5D3 fluorescence and its energy transfer behavior. The emission and excitation spectra were measured in terms of Tb3+ concentration. The diffuse reflectance spectrum was also measured in the range from VUV to UV. As a result, yttrium silicate was found to have a broad absorption band extended from the VUV to UV range. The concentration quenching was investigated in terms of luminance and decay time both for 5D3 and 5D4 fluorescence. The energy transfer was also investigated by analyzing the decay curve of 5D3 emission on the basis of the multipolar interaction. The decay curves of 5D3 emission, for which well-known cross-relaxation has been accepted as a main factor, were analyzed by Inokuti and Hirayama's formula on the basis of the direct quenching scheme. Furthermore, the rate equations including a newly proposed quenching scheme were taken into consideration. The rate equations accept the emission quenching as due to the cross-relaxation from 5D3 or 4 to some upper levels such as 7D and the charge-transfer band.

Open cell periodic metal truss structures can exhibit significantly higher stiffnesses and strengths than stochastic cellular metal structures of the same relative density while still providing high mechanical energy absorption and efficient heat exchange opportunities. Here, a potentially inexpensive textile-based approach to the synthesis of periodic metal microtruss laminates is reported. The process consists of selecting a wire weave, laying up the mesh and joining using a transient liquid phase. Example structures constructed from nichrome (Ni–24Fe–16Cr) wire cloth were made and tested. These exhibited a linear dependence of stiffness and strength upon relative density, absorbed large amounts of mechanical energy, and showed good potential for efficient heat exchange.