Synthesis, ferroelectric and optical properties of (Pb,Ca)TiO3 thin films by soft solution processing

Calcium modified lead titanate sol was synthesized using a soft solution processing, the so-called polymeric precursor method. In soft chemistry method, soluble precursors such as lead acetate trihydrate, calcium carbonate and titanium isopropoxide, as starting materials, were mixed in aqueous solution. Pb0.7Ca0.3TiO3 thin films were deposited on platinum-coated silicon and quartz substrates by means of the spinning technique. The surface morphology and crystal structure, dielectric and optical properties of the thin films were investigated. The electrical measurements were conducted on metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) capacitors. The typical measured small signal dielectric constant and dissipation factor at a frequency of 100 kHz were 299 and 0.065, respectively, for a thin film with 230 nm thickness annealed at 600degreesC for 2 h. The remanent polarization (2P(r)) and coercive field (E-c) were 32 muC/cm(2) and 100 kV/cm, respectively. Transmission spectra were recorded and from them, refractive index, extinction coefficient, and band gap energy were calculated. Thin films exhibited good optical transmissivity, and had optical direct transitions. The present study confirms the validity of the DiDomenico model for the interband transition, with a single electronic oscillator at 6.858 eV. The optical dispersion behavior of PCT thin film was found to fit well the Sellmeir dispersion equation. The band gap energy of the thin film, annealed at 600degreesC, was 3.56 eV. The results confirmed that soft solution processing provides an inexpensive and environmentally friendly route for the preparation of PCT thin films.

Thin films prepared from tungstate glass matrix

Vitreous samples containing high concentrations of WO3 (above 40% M) have been used as a target to prepare thin films. Such films were deposited using the electron beam evaporation method onto soda-lime glass substrates. These films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), perfilometry, X-ray energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS), M-Lines and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. In this work, experimental parameters were established to obtain stable thin films showing a chemical composition close to the glass precursor composition and with a high concentration of WO3. These amorphous thin films of about 4 mu m in thickness exhibit a deep blue coloration but they can be bleached by thermal treatment near the glass transition temperature. Such bleached films show several guided modes in the visible region and have a high refractive index. Controlled crystallization was realized and thus it was possible to obtain WO3 microcrystals in the amorphous phase. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Piezoelectric behavior of SrRuO(3) buffered lanthanum modified bismuth ferrite thin films grown by chemical method

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Dielectric properties of soft chemical method derived CaCu3Ti4O12 thin films onto Pt/TiO2/Si(100) substrates

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Problems related to the employment of thin uranium films as neutron dosimeters

Thin uranium films built on muscovite mica basis and obsidian samples having known ages were irradiated with thermal neutrons at the IPEN/CNEN reactor, São Paulo. Comparing thin film performance with the obsidian one, it was observed that the latter feel a greater neutron fluence. Nominal fluences at the used facility are in agreement with the results obtained analysing the obsidian samples. A probable hypothesis to explain this disagreement, namely, the uranium loss from the thin films, was ruled out. © 1995.

Structural, dielectric and ferroelectric properties of Nb-doped PZT thin films produced by oxide precursor method

Recently, was proposed a chemical method for preparation of ferroelectric thin films based on oxide precursors. In this work, PZT thin films were prepared to attest the viability of this method for cation-substitution. In this study, a small concentration of Nb (5 mol%) was selected as substitute of B-site in ABO 3 structure of PZT. Dielectric and ferroelectric properties of PZT films were studied as a function of cation-substitution. Results for Nb-PZT were compared with PZT films undoped. The values of dielectric constant, at typical 100 kHz frequency, were 358 and 137, for PZT and Nb-PZT films respectively. Remanent polarizations of these films were respectively 7.33 μ C/cm 2 and 13.3 μ C/cm 2 , while the measured coercive fields were 101 kV/cm and 93 kV/cm. As a result, changes on observed dielectric and ferroelectric values confirm the Nb substitution in PZT thin film produced by oxide precursor method. © 2002 Taylor & Francis.

Photoluminescence in amorphous (PbLa)TiO3 thin films deposited on different substrates

Pb1-xLaxTiO3 thin films, (X=0.0; 13 and 0.27mol%) were prepared by the polymeric precursor method. Thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si(111), Si(100) and glass substrates by spin coating, and annealed in the 200-300°C range in an O2 atmosphere. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used for the microstructural characterization of the thin films. Photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature has been observed in thin films of (PbLa)TiO3. The films deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates present PL intensity greater than those deposited on glass and silicon substrates. The intensity of PL in these thin films was found to be dependent on the thermal treatment and lanthanum molar concentration. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Magnetoelectric coefficient in strontium ruthenate buffered lanthanum modified bismuth ferrite thin films grown by chemical method

This paper focuses on the magnetoelectric coupling (ME) at room temperature in lanthanum modified bismuth ferrite thin film (BLFO) deposited on SrRuO 3-buffered Pt/TiO 2/SiO 2/Si(100) substrates by the soft chemical method. BLFO film was coherently grown at a temperature of 500 °C. The magnetoelectric coefficient measurement was performed to evidence magnetoelectric coupling behavior. Room temperature magnetic coercive field indicates that the film is magnetically soft. The maximum magnetoelectric coefficient in the longitudinal direction was close to 12 V/cmOe. Dielectric permittivity and dielectric loss demonstrated only slight dispersion with frequency due the less two-dimensional stress in the plane of the film. Polarization reversal was investigated by applying dc voltage through a conductive tip during the area scanning. We observed that various types of domain behavior such as 71 ° and 180° domain switching, and pinned domain formation occurred. Copyright © 2009 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.

Growth and morphology of eumelanin thin films - A future bioelectronic material?

We present a study on the thin film morphology and the optical properties of eumelanin resulting from different synthesis routes: the oxidation of tyrosine with hydrogen peroxide, the auto-oxidation of dihydroxyphenylanaline in water and its auto-oxidation in dimethyl sulfoxid. Atomic Force Microscopy images indicate that the presence of holes and particles depends on the eumelanin synthesis route and the substrate employed. Smooth films with very few defects could be obtained with eumelanin synthesized in dimethyl sulfoxide deposited on glass substrates. Our study shows that all eumelanin preparations are comparable in terms of thin film morphology on the submicrometer scale and UV-visible transmission properties. ©The Electrochemical Society.

Thickness dependence of structure and piezoelectric properties at nanoscale of polycrystalline PZT thin films

Lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr 0.50Ti 0.50)O 3 (PZT) thin films were deposited by a polymeric chemical method on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates to understand the mechanisms of phase transformations and the effect of film thickness on the structure, dielectric and piezoelectric properties in these films. PZT films pyrolyzed at temperatures higher than 350 °C present a coexistence of pyrochlore and perovskite phases, while only perovskite phase grows in films pyrolyzed at temperatures lower than 300 °C. For pyrochlore-free PZT thin films, a small (100) orientation tendency near the film-substrate interface was observed. Finally, we demonstrate the existence of a self-polarization effect in the studied PZT thin films. Results suggest that Schottky barriers and/or mechanical coupling near the filmsubstrate interface are not primarily responsible for the observed self-polarization effect in our films. © 2012 IEEE.

Effect of pressure-assisted thermal annealing on the optical properties of ZnO thin films

ZnO thin films were prepared by the polymeric precursor method. The films were deposited on silicon substrates using the spin-coating technique, and were annealed at 330°C for 32h under pressure-assisted thermal annealing and under ambient pressure. Their structural and optical properties were characterized, and the phases formed were identified by X-ray diffraction. No secondary phase was detected. The ZnO thin films were also characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence and ultraviolet emission intensity measurements. The effect of pressure on these thin films modifies the active defects that cause the recombination of deep level states located inside the band gap that emit yellow-green (575nm) and orange (645nm) photoluminescence. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Production and characterization of Tm3+/Yb3+ codoped waveguides based on PbO-GeO2 thin films

Fabrication and optical characterization of Tm3+/Yb3+ codoped PbO-GeO2 (PGO) pedestal-type waveguides are investigated in this work. It is important to mention that, to the best of authors' knowledge, the use of PGO pedestal-type waveguide has not been studied before. PGO thin films codoped with Tm3+ and Yb3+ were obtained through RF magnetron sputtering technique. The pedestal profile was obtained using conventional optical lithography procedures, followed by plasma etching and sputtering deposition. The profile of Tm3+/Yb3+ codoped PGO waveguides was observed by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) measurements. Also the infrared and infrared-to-visible frequency upconversion luminescences of Tm3+ ions were measured exciting the samples with a cw 980 nm diode laser. Propagation losses around 11 dB/cm and 9 dB/cm were obtained at 630 and 1050 nm, respectively, for waveguides in the 20-100 μm width range. Single-mode propagation was observed for waveguides width up to 12 μm and 7 μm, at 1050 nm and 630 nm, respectively; larger waveguides width provided multi-mode propagation. The present results corroborate the possibility of using Tm3+/Yb3+ codoped PGO thin films as active waveguide for photonic applications. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A comparison between neutron-fluence measurements using metal-activation monitors and standard glasses calibrated via thin uranium-fission monitors and via ηq method

The two fundamental approaches to fission-track dating involve either an explicit determination of the thermal neutron fluence (φ-method) or a calibration against age standards (ζ-method). The neutron fluence measurements are carried out with metal-activation monitors or with uranium-fission monitors, co-irradiated with the samples. Uranium-fission monitors consist of either a thin mono-atomic) film, or a thick fission source (standard uranium glass) irradiated against a muscovite external track detector. In this work, different techniques for performing neutron-fluence measurements were compared: based on thin-film calibration, based on thick-source calibration, and based on gamma spectrometry of co-irradiated metal monitors (Au, Co). The results suggest that more experiments are needed to make all calibrations consistent, including new measurements of the length of etched induced tracks in mica. Also the standard glass calibration carried out with thin films should be confirmed with a greater number of calibrating irradiations. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Laser stimulated light reflection for TeO2-WO 3-Bi2O3 thin films with incorporated Si nanoparticles

A novel method of preparation of the Si nanoparticles (NPs) incorporated in tellurite TeO2-WO3-Bi2O3 (TWB) thin films is proposed. This mew method applies RF magnetron sputtering technique at room temperature. The incorporation of Si NP was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM); isolated Si NPs with diameters of around 6 nm are observed. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was performed during TEM analysis in order to confirm the presence of Si NP and also the other elements of the thin film. The thin films are explored with respect to the photoinduced changes of the reflectivity within the 400-65 nm spectra range using a 10 ns pulsed Nd:YAG with power densities varying up to 400 MW/cm2 and beam diameter within the 3-5 mm range. The observed processes are analyzed within a framework of trapping level conceptions for the Si NP. The possible application of the discovered materials as optical sensitive sensors is proposed. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

CaCu3Ti4O12 thin films with non-linear resistivity deposited by RF-sputtering

Calcium copper titanate, CaCu3Ti4O12, CCTO, thin films with polycrystalline nature have been deposited by RF sputtering on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si (100) substrates at a room temperature followed by annealing at 600 °C for 2 h in a conventional furnace. The CCTO thin film present a cubic structure with lattice parameter a = 7.379 ±0.001 Å free of secondary phases. The observed electrical features of CCTO thin films are highly dependent on the [CaO12], [CaO 4], [CuO11], [CuO11Vx 0] and [TiO5.VO] clusters. The CCTO film capacitor showed a dielectric loss of 0.40 and a dielectric permittivity of 70 at 1 kHz. The J-V behavior is completely symmetrical, regardless of whether the conduction is limited by interfacial barriers or by bulk-like mechanisms. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.