Surface and cross-section relief evolution of ferroelectric epitaxial (Ba,Sr)Ti03 films rf-sputtered on (001) MgO crystal cleavage surfaces versus the oxygen worKing gas pressure P and substrate temperature T were studied. Specific features of both three-dimensional and two-dimensional epitaxy mechanisms corresponding to various deposition conditions were revealed. Difference between low and high P-T-value 3D epitaxy was established. the deposition of films with mirror-smooth surfaces and perfect interfaces is shown to be possible.

Thin granular metal films in polymethylmethacrylate(PMMA) have been synthesized by 40 keV Fe+, ag+ or Pb+ ions implantation with fluencies up to 6*1017 ion/cm2. the resistivity of synthesized films was measured in the temperature range from 300K. to 5K. the temperature dependence of the resistivity of PMMA implanted with ag+, Pb+ and small fluence Fe+ obeys the well known law lnR~(l/T)1/2. the samples implanted by high fluence Fe+ reveal rather a different behaviour. at low temperature (T<100K) the curves R(T) fit the formulae inR~lnT. the two mechanisms of conductivity of a granular film are considered: direct tunneling and thermally activated hopping. Combined with the morphology features of films, obtained by high fluence Fe+ implantation, the above mentioned consideration offers a satisfactory explanation of the observed temperature dependence R(T).

Preliminary conductance measurements of Si implanted, α-Quartz which had been annealed in ar to 1000• C have been made using a bridge method. the quartz was implanted to a dose expected to yield Si precipitates inside the quartz upon annealing. the measured conductivity, based on a geometry deduced from TRIM calculations and several trans-conductance measurements, is ~ 2 х 10-4(Ω m)-1. This is consistent with large islands of Si in series with an insulating matrix.

The use of gaseous discharge for ion plating and related techniques have been well known to improve coating properties in several ways. IN the arc-induced ion plating (AIIP), the ionization efficiency for the evaporants is so enhanced without any introduction of inert gases that the bias voltage for, and the temperature of the substrate are reduced in the preparation of the coatings. Highly transparent (> 90% transmission in the visible range) and highly conductive (resistivity ≅ 1.5 x 10-4 Ω cm) in-oxide films were deposited at a rate of 500 - 900 Å/min by aIIP of pure in in an O2 atmosphere of 10-4 Torr. Hall-effect measurement revealed that the observed low resistivity is due primarily to the excellent electron mobilty (≥ 70 cm2 / V sec) with carrier density up to 7 х 1020/cm3. Electrochromic WO3 films were also prepared and characterized.

The initial stages of the growth of b-axis oriented PrBa2Cu3O7-x (PBCO) films on LaSrGaO4 (100) substrates were investigated by atomic force microscopy to follow the growth of the thin films. Series of films with thickness ranging between 0.34 nm and 100 nm were prepared under identical pulsed laser deposition conditions. No sprial-topped or flat-topped islands were observed and the scale of the surface roughness was lower than that of the c-axis oriented growth mode. the 300 nm-thick in-plane aligned a-axis oriented YBCO films have the root mean square (RMS) surface roughness of 2 nm. It is considered that the b-axis oriented PBCO films on LaSrGaO4 (100) substrates were nucleated and grown by layer-by-layer like growth mode.