We report on the atomic ordering of B-site transition-metals and magnetic properties in double-perovskite oxides, La2CrFeO6 (LCFO) and La2VMnO6 (LVMO), which have never been reported to exist in ordered forms. These double-perovskite oxides are particularly interesting because of possible ferromagnetism (expected from the Kanamori-Goodenough rule for LCFO) and half-metallic antiferromagnetism (predicted for LVMO). Using pulsed-laser deposition technique with single solid-solution targets, we have prepared epitaxial films in ordered forms. Despite similar ionic characters of constituent transition-metals in each compound, the maximum B-site order attained was surprisingly high, ∼90% for LCFO and ∼80% for LVMO, suggesting a significant role of epitaxial stabilization in the spontaneous ordering process. Magnetization and valence state characterizations revealed that the magnetic ground state of both compounds was coincidently ferrimagnetic with saturation magnetization of ∼2μBper formula unit, unlike those predicted theoretically. In addition, they were found to be insulating with optical band-gaps of 1.6 eV and 0.9 eV for LCFO and LVMO, respectively. Our results present a wide opportunity to explore novel magnetic properties of binary transition-metal perovskites upon epitaxial stabilization of the ordered phase.

This study examined the crystallization of vanadate glasses by using microwave irradiation. A second aim was comparing the thermoelectric properties of crystallized glasses when using microwave irradiation to conventional heating. V2O5-P2O5-Fe2O3-CuO glasses were prepared by using the melt quenching method. These glasses were irradiated by 2.45-GHz microwaves and heated in an electric furnace. MxV2O5 (M= Cu, Fe x=0.26-055) crystals were selectively precipitated by using the microwave irradiation. The crystal growth was also promoted by it. As a result, precipitation crystals formed a fiber-like structure. The electrical conductivity of the microwave irradiated glass was 6.3×101S/m at room temperature, which was three times higher than the value of conventionally-heated glass. The Seebeck coefficient of the microwave irradiated glass was -127 μV/K at room temperature, which was two times higher than that of conventionally-heated glass. This caused the power factor to be improved about 12 times. These results show that microwave irradiation is a potential candidate for obtaining conductive crystallized vanadate glasses.

Epitaxial thin films of SrLaVMoO6 with an ordered double perovskite structure have been grown on (001) and (111) SrTiO3 substrates by magnetron sputtering. The optimized (111) film exhibited a clear (111) diffraction peak, which is a superlattice reflection of double perovskite unite cell, indicating clear B-site ordering. Temperature dependences of resistivity ρ show metallic behavior and transition point at 140~150 K, of which behavior is reminiscent of the electrical properties of materials showing long-range magnetic or antiferromagnetic order. XPS results of the Mo 3d core level spectra are discussed in terms of the B-site ordering and oxygen nonstoichiometry.

Electrical transport properties in ultrathin NdNiO3 films grown on single crystal LaAlO3(001) substrate were characterized. Films with thicknesses ranging from 0.6 nm to 12 nm were grown using a pulsed laser technique. Four probe resistivity as a function of temperature measurements indicated a strong dissipation of strain effects from 0.6 nm to 6 nm as well as the presence of defects in the 12 nm sample. A proposed mechanism of kinetically stable glassy phase formation explains the time dependence of the resistivity in both cooling and heating cycles.

Using DC-RF magnetron sputtering method, the stress free c- and r-oriented Cr2O3 thin films were grown on c- and r-cut sapphire substrates, respectively. The c-oriented film grown at 580 ºC shows the smoothest surface with a surface average (Ra) of 0.17, although the c-surface energy is the highest. The origin of the smooth surface is expected that the presence of a twin grain due to a dislocation of Cr atoms, demonstrated by a reciprocal space mapping. The step height corresponding to that of the bulk is clearly observed. The r-oriented films epitaxially grow without twin grain. The Ra is 1.56 in the film grown at 580 ºC because of deep trenches due to a lattice mismatch and no dislocation like c-oriented films. Since the surface energy of the r-surface is the lowest, the terrace is quite smooth in one grain even at higher substrate temperature of 840 ºC.

The present study addressed the effect of the incorporation of Praseodymium species in the BiFeO3(BFO) structure on the corresponding structural and functional properties of powders and films. The level of the doping species varied from 0 at% to 4 at%. BFO powders and thin films were synthesized by a sol-gel method, where glycol was aggregated to the main solvent to increase the viscosity of the precursor solutions and promote their adhesion onto platinum substrates. The development of the host BFO structure was confirmed by XRD analyses of samples annealed at 700°C for one hour (powders) or 500°C for 2 hours (thin films), in air. The average crystallite size varied from 37 nm to 41 nm and 28nm to 40nm for powders and thin films, respectively, due to the increase of the doping level. The incorporation of specific dopant species played an important role in the ferromagnetic and ferroelectric behavior in the material.

The main challenge associated with the synthesis of pure bismuth ferrite (BFO) is the extremely high stability of parasitic or secondary phase Bi-oxides, which contaminates the single ferrite phase and affects the corresponding functional properties. Therefore, any attempt to determine the optimum synthesis conditions conducive to the inhibition of the formation of those impurity phases becomes indispensable. Accordingly, the present work addresses the systematic evaluation of the type of solvent and synthesis parameters to exclusively produce the BFO structure. Nanocrystalline BFO powders were synthesized after thermal treatment of the solid intermediates formed in ethylene glycol and acetic acid media. The experimental work also considered the effect of the excess of Bi species with respect to the BiFeO3stoichiometry and the annealing of the intermediates at different temperatures. The structure formation was confirmed by XRD analysis and magnetic properties were studied by VSM. X-ray diffraction analyses confirmed that powders exhibiting single phase BFO structure were produced after annealing the intermediate which was formed in acetic acid for one hour at 700°C. The average crystallite size and lattice parameter were calculated to be approximately 40 nm and 5.36 Å, respectively. It was also found that the synthesis under 7% of Bi-stoichiometric excess inhibited the formation of the parasitic phases after annealing the intermediate produced in ethylene glycol medium. The saturation magnetization of the powders annealed at 700°C were 0.15 emu/g and 0.17 emu/g when the BFO intermediates were formed in ethylene glycol and acetic acid media, respectively. The corresponding coercivity values were 6 Oe and 21 Oe.

A study of the ferroelectric and magnetic properties and of the magnetoelectric coupling effects of Pb(Fe0.5Nb0.5)O3 (PFN) thin films, grown on SrRuO3/Si [(100) or (111)] substrates by the rf-magnetron sputtering technique, is presented. Structural, morphological, and compositional characterization was realized using the XRD, AFM, XPS, and TEM techniques. Highly textured single phase films with different thickness (from 45 to 270 nm) were successfully grown without Fe2+ presence. A vertically [110] oriented grainy structure was observed. Polarization vs. electric field (P-E) hysteresis loops exhibit excellent and almost constant values of the maximum (∼ 60 μC/cm2) and remanent (∼ 22 μC/cm2) polarizations in the temperature range from 4 K to room temperature; small values of the coercive field, characteristic of soft ferroelectric materials, are observed in these samples. Measurements of the zero-field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) magnetization behavior and magnetic (M-H) hysteresis loops were realized at different temperatures between 5 and 300 K. Proof of the existence of ferromagnetic order in the low temperature region (below to 50 K) is discussed and reported for the first time. Values of the maximum (∼ 3 emu/g) and remanent (∼ 1.5 emu/g) magnetizations were obtained. dc magnetic field dependence of the ferroelectric hysteresis loops are shown as evidence of the magnetoelectric coupling.

Magnetoelectric (ME) (CoFe2O4)0.3-(BaTiO3)0.7 (CFO-BTO) nanostructures have been synthesized by a combinative using of hydrothermal reaction and polymer-assisted deposition. The feather-like nanostructures have an average diameter of 250nm and lengths up to 5μm, with the single-crystal CFO nanopillars embedded in the BTO matrix. The CFO-BTO nanostructures exhibit good magnetic (Ms=21.0emu/g, Mr=10.4emu/g and Hc=560.7Oe) and ferroelectric properties (Ps=10.5μC/cm2, Pr=5.6μC/cm2), as well as a large ME coefficient of 51.8mV/cmOe. A prominent phonon abnormality has also been detected between 110°C and 140°C. With emphasis on the novel microstructure, the ME response and phonon abnormality of the CFO-BTO nanostructures have been discussed.

We have successfully prepared La0.5Sr0.5MnO3nanowires using a novel hydrothermal synthesis process and studied their magnetic and magnetocaloric properties. The system exhibits an inverse magnetocaloric effect (IMCE) around 175 K indicating presence of significant AFM correlation. The MCE study reveals a clear paramagnetic (PM) to ferromagnetic (FM) transition near room temperature (T ~ 325K) which is followed by onset of AFM at lower temperatures. The development of the FM-like magnetic state at low temperature is attributed to the enhanced double exchange (DE) driven ferromagnetism in AFM state as predicted by recent theoretical studies.

Hexagonal ZnO was grown on hexagonal (001) sapphire substrate, then cubic La(Sr)MnO3(LSMO) was grown on ZnO underlayer by ion beam sputtering at substrate temperatures of 550-750°C to obtain double-layer of LSMO/ZnO. Out-of-plane (001) oriented ZnO was grown with in-plane orientation of [10-10](0001)ZnO//[11-20](0001)sapphire. Mixed phase of LSMO with out-of-plane (001), (110) and (111) orientations was grown on (001) ZnO usually. However each single phase of LSMO could be grown by controlling deposition conditions. The LSMO grains have their in-plane orientations of [110](110)LSMO //[10-10](0001)ZnO and [110](111)LSMO//[11-20](0001)ZnO.

We report a significant improvement in the electrical properties of CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) dielectrics by the BaTiO3 (BTO) additive. The addition of BTO to CCTO was performed using two different methods of a solid-state mixing and a sol-gel coating. Compared with pure CCTO ceramics (εr ∼ 52,000 and tanδ ∼ 0.38 at 100 kHz), BTO-added CCTO samples commonly showed a large improvement in the dielectric loss property although their dielectric constants were depressed around one order of magnitude; εr ∼ 5900 and tanδ ∼0.05 for 5 mol% BTO-coated CCTO sample and εr ∼ 4,075 and tanδ ∼ 0.02 for 5 mol% BTO-mixed CCTO sample. In addition, BTO-coated CCTO samples showed relatively lower leakage current than those of BTO-mixed CCTO samples, implying that the sol-gel coating is more effective for improving the electrical properties of CCTO.

We report the microstructures and dielectric properties of Ca1-xSrxCu3Ti4O12 (C1-xSxCTO, 0≤x≤1) ceramics sintered at the various sintering temperatures ranging from 1000 to 1060˚C in air. The linear increase in lattice parameter in C1-xSxCTO (0≤x≤1) ceramics is observable for the full range of substitution. However, the second phases of SrTiO3 and CuO start to occur from the composition of x=0.8, implying that a stoichiometric SrCu3Ti4O12 (SCTO) compound may not exist. While the C0.6S0.4CTO and C0.4S0.6CTiO samples exhibit relatively lower dielectric constant (εr) of ∼40,000 below 1 kHz, the CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) and SCTO show the extremely high εr values of ~120,000 and ∼180,000, respectively. Complex impedance (Z*) and modulus (M*) spectroscopy revealed that the capacitance (C) and resistivity (ρ) values of grain boundary in all samples are much higher than those of grains.

Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 (BST) thin films and Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3/ZrO2 heterostructured thin films have been successfully fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by a sol-gel process. The dielectric properties of these films were measured as a function of temperature in the frequency range of 1 kHz to 1 MHz. It is clearly observed that the dielectric peaks exist and shift to high temperature with the increase of frequency indicating the presence of relaxor-type behavior in the films. Also it is seen that one dielectric peak is observed in single layer BST thin films whereas two dielectric peaks are observed in BST/ZrO2 heterostructured thin films due to the presence of two dielectric layers having different band gap energies. The variation of peak temperature Tm, corresponding to dielectric loss maximum, with frequency and fitting to Arrhenius law gives activation energy of 1.24 eV which is very close to the activation energy of oxygen vacancies in BaTiO3. Hence, oxygen vacancies are the active defects which are contributing to the relaxation process in these films.

Heterostructured Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3/ZrO2/Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 thin films are fabricated on the platinized Si substrates by a sol-gel process. The current versus voltage measurements are taken on these films by varying the thickness of ZrO2 layer. We have found that inserting a ZrO2 layer in between two BST layers results in a significant reduction in leakage current which is very essential for the low dissipation energy and hence faster operation of memory devices. It is observed that the leakage current further decreases as the ZrO2layer thickness increases. Also it is seen that different conduction mechanisms are contributing to the leakage current in the different field regions. Poole-Frenkel (PF), space charge limited current (SCLC), and Ohmic mechanisms are the dominating conduction processes in high, medium, and low field regions respectively. An energy band diagram is given to explain the Ohmic conduction in the low field region and the Poole-Frenkel conduction mechanism in the high field region for these devices.

Superconducting NMR pickup coils have to have a low surface resistance (Rs) under a high magnetic field. One way of reducing the Rs of superconducting thin films is adding artificial pins to the films. We examined the hetero-epitaxial growth of MgB2and YBCO thin films on decorated sapphire and MgO substrates while using nano-wires and nano-particles to add pins to the films.

We used ZnO nano-wire to add artificial grain boundary pins to MgB2 films. The tilted c-plane sapphire substrate with nano-step edges was used for these substrates. The terrace width with one lattice step edge can be controlled by changing the tilt angle. AFM images showed that the tilted c-plane sapphire substrate had straight nano-step edges. ZnO nono-wires were decorated on the nano-step edges by MOCVD, and then deposited on MgB2 films by sputtering. The Rs of the films was then measured with a sapphire rod resonator. The Rs of MgB2 thin films fabricated on the tilted c-plane sapphire substrate with ZnO nano-wires was lower than that of MgB2thin films on a conventional sapphire substrate under a high magnetic field.

We used BaZrO3(BZO) nano-particles to add the artificial pins to YBCO thin films. The BZO particles on the MgO substrates were fabricated by laser deposition. The size and density of these particles were controlled with a pulse number of laser shot. YBCO thin films were formed on decorated MgO substrate by laser deposition. The Rs of YBCO thin films on the decorated MgO substrate was lower than that of the YBCO films formed on a conventional MgO substrate under a high magnetic field.

We clarified that artificial pins in MgB2and YBCO thin films are useful for decreasing the Rs under a high magnetic field.

Sb2O3, Sb-metal, Bi2O3 or Bi-metal, powders were mixed with MgB2 powder. Starting compositions were ((MgB2)(M2O3)x, x = 0.0025, 0.005, 0.015, and (MgB2)(M)y, y = 0.01, M = Sb, Bi. Mixtures were processed by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) technique. As obtained composite samples show high density, above 94% of the theoretical density. While the secondary phases indicate on similar reactions, samples show different behavior vs. addition type and amount. This does not directly correlate with the melting temperature of the addition. From the critical current density (Jc) and irreversibility field (Hirr) enhancement viewpoints, optimum additions are oxides for x=0.025, 0.005. Both oxides are improving Jc at high fields, but Sb2O3 is effective up to 10 K, while Bi2O3 is up to 30 K. Metal additions are decreasing Jc and Hirr when compared to pristine MgB2sample.

We have fabricated Bi2212 and Bi2223 bulk samples by shock compaction technique. Seed crystals were added to the starting materials in order to promote crystallization. The grain size of the prepared sample was increased by the addition of seed crystals to the starting material.

Pulsed Electron Deposition (PED) is an attractive alternative to Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) for growing high temperature superconductor thin films because of its relatively low cost. In this study, YBa2Cu3O7-δ(YBCO) thin film has been fabricated on silicon substrates by Pulsed Electron Deposition technique. SrTiO3 (STO) as a buffer layer has been grown between Si substrate and YBCO superconducting layer. The crystalline structures of STO/Si and YBCO/STO/Si films have been investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD). The surface morphology and microstructure of YBCO/STO/Si thin film have been characterized with atomic force microscope (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). From the θ-2θ XRD analysis of YBCO thin films, (00l) diffraction peaks are obtained indicating they have a poor c-axis oriented structure. SEM analysis shows that the surfaces of films are crack-free, but they have some particulates. On AFM images, the droplets are clearly observed leading to a roughly surface.

Heterostructures composed of transition metal oxides with strong electron correlation offer a unique opportunity to design new artificial materials whose electrical, magnetic and optical properties can be manipulated by tailoring the occupation of the d-orbitals of the transition metal in the compound. This possibility is an implication of symmetry constraints at interfaces with the consequence of a reconstruction of the coupled charge-, spin-, and orbital states of the constituents and their interactions. Novel architectures can be constructed showing functions well beyond charge density manipulations determining the functionality of conventional semiconductor heterostructures. Success in this endeavor requires the mastering of technological prerequisites such as structurally as well as chemically controlled interface preparation down to atomic scales. Additionally, a fundamental understanding of the modifications of the electronic structure at the interface imposed by structural boundary conditions and consequently by the constituent’s orbital occupation is required. A path towards a new generation of electronic devices with multiple functionalities can thus be opened by exploiting the correlation driven interface phenomena. In this paper, the technological challenges and experimental realizations along this concept are described with an emphasis of growth techniques based on the pulsed laser deposition method. As a case study, results of investigations of YBa2Cu3O7/La2/3Ca1/3MnO3superlattices are compiled and the conclusions regarding the orbital manipulation at the interface are used to pave the way for orbital engineering of oxides with electronic structures similar to the cuprates in order to find novel ordered quantum states at the interfaces including magnetism and superconductivity.