The electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (ECR PECVD) method is used to prepare ferroelectric PbTiO3 films. Single-phase perovskite PbTiO3 films with smooth surfaces and fine grain size were successfully fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates at low temperatures of 400–500 °C using metal-organic (MO) sources. The chemical compositions, structural phases, surface morphologies, and depth profiles of the PbTiO3 thin films were investigated using EDS, XRD, SEM, RBS, and AES. Variations of those properties with process temperature and gas supply ratio are discussed. When the process temperature was above 450 °C, the stoichiometric perovskite PbTiO3 films could be obtained even though the MO source supply ratio was varied in a wide range if the oxygen supply was sufficient.

Cu2+-containing SiO2 and Al2O5 · 9SiO2 glasses were prepared by the sol-gel method and heated under reducing conditions to precipitate small-sized Cu and Cu2O erystals. Cu2+ ions incorporated in SiO2 glass were reduced by heating in N2 to precipitate Cu2O and in H2 to precipitate Cu microcrystals with diameters of about 5 to 15 nm. Microcrystalline Cu-precipitated glass showed an optical absorption band at 560 nm and its third-order nonlinear susceptibility was 1.25 × 10−10 esu, which originated from the enhancement by the surface plasmon resonance of Cu particles. In contrast, Cu2+ ions incorporated in Al2O3 · 9SiO2 glass remained unchanged after heating in the reducing gas atmospheres.

Silica gcls containing NiCl2 and dextrose have been reduced by heat-treating the gels under N2 atmosphere at 800 °C, 850 °C, 900 °C, and 950 °C, respectively. The influence of the volume ratio of ethyl alcohol to tetraethylorthosilicate and the amount of dextrose on the in situ reduction kinetics of NiCl2 in gel matrix have been investigated. The kinetic data on in situ reduction have been analyzed by a reduced time method which indicates that mixed mechanisms are operative. The predominant mechanism of reduction of NiCl2 in SiO2 gel matrix is of nucleation and growth type. The activation energies over different temperatures and fraction converted have been computed by the integration method.

The absorption of hydrogen and carbon monoxide at room temperature by palladium and 5% ruthenium-palladium foils was studied using thermal desorption spectroscopy. It was found that hydrogen readily diffused in the palladium and desorbed as one broad peak at about 650 K. Plots of the In (rate) versus inverse absolute temperature indicate that the desorption order is n = 1.25 and the activation energy is about 8.5 Kcal/mol. Carbon monoxide is adsorbed, as two different states, on the surface of the foil and complete coverage is quickly reached below 100 L. Hydrogen also diffuses in 5% ruthenium-palladium foil but to a lesser degree. Two hydrogen desorption peaks are observed in the Ru-Pd alloy. The desorption traces can be fitted with two peaks and the desorption orders are n = 2 for the first peak and n = 1.25 for the second peak. Activation energies of 10.7 and 5.6 Kcal/mol are obtained for the first and second hydrogen peaks, respectively. The first hydrogen desorption peak is regarded as hydrogen desorbing from the surface sites while the second peak is regarded as hydrogen diffusing from below the surface. Activation energies for bulk diffusion were obtained from hydrogen uptake measurements using a sensitive microbalance. These energies corresponded to 4.4 Kcal/mol for Pd foil and 4.9 Kcal/mol for the Ru-Pd alloy. Discussion about the relation between these results with prior studies of hydrogen adsorption on Pd single crystal is included. The appearance of a fractional order for hydrogen desorption is also discussed.

Antiferroelectric tin-modified lead zirconate titanate ceramics (PZST), with 42 at. % Sn and 4 at. % Ti, were studied by hot- and cold-stage transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction techniques. The previously reported tetragonal antiferroelectric state is shown to be an incommensurate orthohombic state. Observations revealed the existence of incommensurate 1/x 〈110〉 superlattice reflections below the temperature of the dielectric maximum. The modulation wavelength for this incommensurate structure was found to be metastably locked-in near and below room temperature. An incommensurate-commensurate orthorhombic antiferroelectric transformation was then observed at lower temperatures. However, an intermediate condition was observed over a relatively wide temperature range which was characterized by an intergrowth of 〈110〉 structural modulations, which was strongly diffuse along the 〈110〉. These structural observations were correlated with dispersion in the dielectric properties in the same temperature range. No previous reports of an incommensurate orthorhombic antiferroelectric state or an incommensurate-commensurate orthorhombic antiferroelectric transformation are known to exist.

Infrared (IR) and UV-spectra have been obtained for pure and Fe3+ doped acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) terpolymer. IR study revealed the appearance of a new band at about 380 cm−1, and a change of the shape and the intensity of the band at 1450–1500 cm−1 and 2240 cm−1 indicates the structural change on blending due to the τ-complexes and the complexes of the functional groups with Fe3+ forming an ion-coordination polymer. The UV spectrum confirms this result. The optical energy for pure and Fe3+-doped ABS is found to be 3.75 eV and 3.55 eV, respectively. The dc and ac electrical conductivities have been investigated. The apparent conductivity of high Fe3+-doped ABS at the ambient temperature is about six orders of magnitude greater than that of the undoped film. The activation energy drastically decreases as the wt. % of FeCl3 increases. The enhanced conductivity in the complex film may be attributed to the capacity of the dopant to give additional charge carriers. Transport of charge carriers will occur by hopping of charge carriers between close neighbors across the intervening dielectric, probably via a thermally activated process.

The basic building block of the ZnO varistor is the ZnO grain formed as a result of sintering. Nanosized ZnO particles are prepared by carrying out the reaction in the controlled size nanoreactors—the droplets of microemulsions. Chemical doping of the ZnO nanoparticles provides ZnO-based ceramic varistors displaying superior varistor properties. These varistors show a higher value of the nonlinear coefficient, lower leakage current, and higher critical electric field value as compared to those for conventional samples in their log E versus log J curve. The present work has also been aimed at studying the effect of processing variables such as sintering temperature and duration on the microstructure and grain growth of ZnO nanoparticles and ZnO-Bi2O3 ceramics. The activation energy calculated from this data is found to be 175 kJ/mol for pure ZnO. For Bi2O3-doped ZnO, the activation energy is found to decrease considerably (∼148 kJ/mol). All these advantages are due to greater structural homogeneity, smaller particle size, higher surface area, and higher density of the ZnO nanoparticles which are precursors for ZnO varistors, as compared to coarser particles for making varistors.

The elastic properties of sodium borovanadate glasses have been studied over a wide range of composition using ultrasonic measurements. It is found that variation of different elastic moduli is very similar in any given series of composition. The bulk and shear moduli show a monotonic variation with the covalent bond energy densities calculated from the proposed structural model for these glasses. The bulk moduli also vary as a negative power function of the mean atomic volume. The Debye temperature varies linearly with the glass transition temperature. The implications of the observed behavior have been discussed.

A method for controlling the particle size of amorphous iron, which was prepared by the sonication of iron pentacarbonyl [Fe(CO)5], is reported in this paper. The sonolysis was performed on neat Fe(CO)5 and its solutions in decane whose concentrations were 4 M, 1 M, and 0.25 M. The iron nanoparticles were subjected to TEM (Transmission Electron Micrograph), ESR (Electron Spin Resonance), TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis), DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimctry), and Quantum Design SQUID magnetization measurement. The measured properties demonstrated a strong dependence on the concentration of the solution, e.g., particle size.

A series of polysilanes was prepared by the alkali metal dechlorination of chlorosilane monomers, in which the overall functionality, F, of the reaction was varied. Starting monomers of functionality f = 2.0 and 3.0 were reacted together in various proportions to achieve values of F of 2.2, 2.35, and 2.5. In addition to varying the functionality of the reaction, three different difunctional monomers, dimethyldichlorosilane (DMDCS), diphenyldichlorosilane (DPDCS), and methylphenyldichlorosilane (MPDCS), and two trifunctional monomers, phenyltrichlorosilane (PTCS) and ethyltrichlorosilane (ETCS), were used. The effect of these changes on the yields of the polysilanes was determined, and the products were investigated by the use of thermogravimetry (TG), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and thermomechanical analysis (TMA). The ability to spin a polysilane fiber was also assessed.

A stack of five polycarbonate foils, each 1.4 μm thick, was irradiated with 1.3 MeV 4He+ ions to the dose of 1.1 × 1014 cm−2. Ion beam induced polymer degradation, as a function of the particle energy, was studied by UV-VIS and IR spectroscopy of individual foils. In the irradiated foils, a significant reduction of characteristic absorption bands is observed, indicating polymer degradation. Significant increase of the surface polarity, characterized by a polar component of the surface free energy, is also found. Both the degree of the polymer degradation and the surface polarity correlate with the total energy deposited by 4He+ ions in the foils.

ArF excimer laser pulses (193 nm, 20 ns, 150 mJ) have been focused on a hydroxyapatite (HA) target in similar conditions to those normally used for thin film deposition. Fast intensified CCD images of HA laser ablation plumes have been taken in vacuum and under different water vapor pressures ranging from 0.01 mbar to 1 mbar. Images of HA ablation in vacuum have shown a plume freely expanding at a constant velocity of 2.3 × 106 cm/s. HA ablation under a water vapor pressure of 0.01 mbar has revealed an expansion behavior very similar to that of ablation in vacuum. Images taken under a water vapor pressure of 0.1 mbar have shown the formation of a shock structure in the plume. Finally, HA ablation under a water vapor pressure of 1 mbar has revealed the development of some irregularities in the shape of the plume.

A moving screw dislocation near a surface crack was investigated using dislocation modeling. Motion directions parallel (x direction) and perpendicular (y direction) to the crack surface were considered. Due to the free surface, the net Burgers vector inside the crack is zero. After obtaining the dislocation distribution in the crack, we calculated the stress field in the medium. Relative to a static screw dislocation, the magnitude of σyz due to the moving screw dislocation decreases with increasing velocity Vx. Generally, the effect of dislocation shielding on fracture is reduced if the velocity Vx increases. The magnitude of the image force of the dislocation also decreases with increasing velocity Vx. The effect of velocity along the y direction on the stress intensity factor and image force has the opposite trend to that along the x direction. The present result can reduce to a moving dislocation near a semi-infinite crack and a static dislocation near a surface crack.

We have studied the morphology of thin films of α-hexathienyl (α-6T), a hexamer of thiophene that is a very promising material for thin-film-transistor applications. Using electron- and atomic-force microscopies, we found that on both rigid (Si/SiO2 and glass) and flexible (polyimide) substrates, evaporated films show an apparently random, polycrystalline morphology. The crystals are lamellar, ca. 100-200 nm in lateral dimensions and 15-30 nm in thickness, and exhibit irregular boundaries. Nevertheless, electron-diffraction evidence from such films indicates that the constituent molecules are deposited preferentially end-on and assume a normal or nearly normal orientation with respect to their substrates. Rapid high-temperature annealing causes growth of much larger (μm-sized) crystalline grains and a partial transformation to a high-temperature polymorph; however, this process leads to formation of gaps in the film, which may cause deterioration of electronic performance.

In this brief letter we want to comment on several statements published recently in the Journal of Materials Research by our former co-workers Kellett and James (KJ) in the paper entitled “Ion beam sputter deposition of YBa2Cu3O7−δ thin films”.

The decomposition of topaz to mullite and other siliceous phases on heating above about 1100 °C was found to depend on sample size and the presence of water vapor in the heating atmosphere. The principal experimental technique employed was scanning electron microscopy, but the data were supported by x-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, mass spectroscopy of volatile emissions, and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. In relatively large samples, the transformation to mullite evidently takes place by a vapor phase mechanism within the bulk. The surface reaction that took place for samples heated in a wet atmosphere allowed the formation of high-silica glass, as well as mullite. The use of a hydrogenous heating atmosphere resulted in the sublimation and reformation of mullite whiskers, well outside the boundary of the original topaz.

We thank Dr. A. Gauzzi and Dr. D. Pavuna for bringing to our attention their comments on our article “Ion beam sputter deposition of YBa2Cu3O7−δ,” as it gives us the opportunity to clear up some discrepancies, make more explicit some of the results, and correct unintended misunderstandings.