The growth, structure and properties of sputtered barium titanate thin films

The design and construction of a sputtering system for the deposition of barium titanate thin films is described. The growth and structure of barium titanate films deposited on a variety of substrates including amorphous carbon fi1ms, potassium bromide single crystals, and polycrystalline gold films has been studied. Films deposited on all substrates at room temperature were amorphous. Polycrystalline titanate films were formed on polycrystalline and amorphous substrates at temperatures above 450°C while films with a pronounced texture could be expitaxially deposited on single crystal potassium bromide above a temperature of only 200°C. Results of dielectric measurements made on the films are reported. Amorphous films were highly insulating (resistivities ~1014 ohm.cm with dielectric constants of between 10 and 20.

An investigation into the depandance of electrical properties on microstructure in polycrystalline barium titanate

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Highly selective Pd/titanate nanotube catalysts for the double-bond migration reaction

Pd(II) and Pd(0) catalysts supported onto titanate nanotubes (H2Ti3O7) were prepared by an ion-exchange technique. The catalysts are characterised by narrow size distribution of metal nanoparticles on the external surface of the nanotubes. Pd(II) catalysts show high selectivity toward double-bond migration reaction versus hydrogenation in linear olefins. The catalytic activity exhibits a volcano-type dependence on the metal loading, with the maximum activity observed at ca. 8 wt%. The Pd(II) was shown to be rapidly reduced to Pd(0) by appropriate choice of solvent. Prereduced Pd(0) catalysts were found to be less active toward double-bond migration and more selective toward hydrogenation. The DBM reaction was faster in protic solvents, such as methanol or ethanol. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unfolding grain size effects in barium titanate ferroelectric ceramics

Grain size effects on the physical properties of polycrystalline ferroelectrics have been extensively studied for decades; however there are still major controversies regarding the dependence of the piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties on the grain size. Dense BaTiO3 ceramics with different grain sizes were fabricated by either conventional sintering or spark plasma sintering using micro- and nano-sized powders. The results show that the grain size effect on the dielectric permittivity is nearly independent of the sintering method and starting powder used. A peak in the permittivity is observed in all the ceramics with a grain size near 1μm and can be attributed to a maximum domain wall density and mobility. The piezoelectric coefficient d33 and remnant polarization Pr show diverse grain size effects depending on the particle size of the starting powder and sintering temperature. This suggests that besides domain wall density, other factors such as back fields and point defects, which influence the domain wall mobility, could be responsible for the different grain size dependence observed in the dielectric and piezoelectric/ferroelectric properties. In cases where point defects are not the dominant contributor, the piezoelectric constant d33 and the remnant polarization Pr increase with increasing grain size.