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This study reports on the structure, electric, and magnetic properties of Bi0.5(Na0.80,K0.20)0.5TiO3/BaZrO3 (BNKT/BZO) heterolayered films synthesized via chemical solution deposition on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates. The influence of different heterolayered configurations on the microstructure, electric and magnetic properties of the films was investigated thoroughly. The heterostructures are expected to generate strongly correlated electron systems in the BNKT and BZO layers that cause a magnetic interface effect in the BNKT/BZO conjunction layer. The BZO layer also prevents metal ion evaporation, resulting in a decline in oxygen vacancies and an enhancement in the electric and magnetic properties. The obtained results show that magnetic properties and leakage current density (J) of BNKT/BZO heterolayered films were greatly improved thanks to the heterolayered structure. Heterolayered 4BNKT/2BZO films (M42) yield the highest M s and M r values of 14.4 emu cm−3 and 1.7 emu cm−3, respectively, about three times higher than multilayered BNKT. Thanks to heterolayered structure, J decreases strongly from 16.0 × 10−4 A cm−2 for BNKT films to 1.4 × 10−4 A cm−2 for heterolayered M42 films. It has been verified that the leakage current in BNKT/BZO heterolayered films follows the Schottky barrier mechanism, with the barrier height fluctuating between 0.80 eV and 0.92 eV. The results of the study show that BNKT/BZO heterolayered films may be suitable for use in environmentally friendly multifunction devices.

Lead-free (1-x)Bi0.5Na0.4K0.2TiO3-xBiFeO3 (abbreviated as BNKT-xBFO) ferroelectric films with x in the range from 0.00 to 0.10, were synthesized by the chemical solution deposition technique on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates. The microstructures and magnetic behaviors of BNKT-xBFO films were analyzed in detail as a function of BFO concentration. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that BNKT-xBFO films were grown with a single-phase perovskite structure. The pure films showed an antiferromagnetic behavior. The magnetic properties of the films were gradually transferred from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic properties when BFO concentration was raised. The saturated magnetization (M S) reached the highest value of 10.3 emu cm−3 at the BFO-doped concentration x = 0.10. Our work will contribute to illuminate the impact of BFO (ABO3 perovskite structure) on the magnetic properties of BNKT materials at room temperature.

In this study, we aim to synthesize novel materials that show ferromagnetic and ferroelectric properties with the magnetoelectric effect at room temperature. Nine types of superlattice were fabricated by stacking [7 units — ABO3/7 units — REMO3] for 14 times by pulsed laser deposition. From all reciprocal space mappings (RSMs) of the CaMnO3 (CMO) superlattices, the satellite peaks were clearly observed. The calculated in-plain lattice parameter was 0.382 nm longer than 0.3732 nm, which is the bulk CMO and in-plain lattice parameter of the CMO thin film grown on SrTiO3 (001) substrate. All the CaFeO3 (CFO) series superlattices showed that the satellite peaks and Laue oscillations were clearly observed from the XRD 2θ–θ spectra. In the case of [CFO/BiFeO3 (BFO)] superlattices, the number of deposited units of CFO in [CFO/BFO] one cycle was 6.94, which was quite close to the seven units that we aimed. The in-plain lattice constant of all the CFO series superlattices was fitted to that of the substrate. From RSMs of the [LaMnO3 (LMO)/BFO] superlattice, the lattice parameter of the superlattice was fitted to that of the substrate in-plain. The cube-on-cube growth was confirmed in these LMO series superlattices

After the discovery of the perovskite high Tc superconductors in 1986, a rare and almost unknown deposition technique attracted attention. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD), or laser ablation as it was called in the beginning, became popular because of the possibility to deposit complex materials, like perovskites, as thin film. By introducing in situ diagnostics and control of the laser fluence, PLD became a technique for several experimental studies of diverse complex materials. Nowadays, first steps towards industrial applications of PLD thin films on large wafers, up to 200 mm, are underway. In this paper we give a brief overview of the progress that PLD has made in our research group in Twente. Starting with control of deposition parameters, via in situ diagnostics with reflection high-energy electron diffraction and ending with the latest development in equipment for large-area deposition.

The method used by SolMateS to determine the effective piezoelectric coefficient d31,eff of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) thin films from cantilever displacement measurements is described. An example from a 48 cantilever dataset using different cantilever widths, lengths and crystal alignments is presented. It is shown that for the layer stack of our cantilevers, the multimorph model is more accurate compared to the bimorph model for the d31,eff determination. Corrections to the input parameters of the model are further applied in order to reduce the geometrical error of the cantilever that is caused by its design and processing, as well as correction to the measured tip displacement caused by resonance amplification. It is shown that after these corrections, the obtained d31,eff values are still up to 10% uncertain as the plate behavior and the non-constant radius of curvature of the cantilevers lead to inconsistent results. We conclude that quantitative determination of d31,eff from the cantilevers is highly subjective to misinterpretation of the models used and the measurement data. The true value of d31,eff was determined as −118.9 pm V−1.

We studied the resonant diffraction signal from stepped surfaces of SrTiO3 at the Ti 2p -> 3d (L2,3) resonance in comparison with x-ray absorption (XAS) and specular reflectivity data. The steps on the surface form an artificial superstructure suited as a model system for resonant soft x-ray diffraction. A small step density on the surface is sufficient to produce a well defined diffraction peak, showing the high sensitivity of the method. At larger incidence angles, the resonant diffraction spectrum from the steps on the surface resembles the spectrum for specular reflectivity. Both deviate from the XAS data in the relative peak intensities and positions of the peak maxima. We determined the optical parameters of the sample across the resonance and found that the differences between the XAS and scattering spectra reflect the different quantities probed in the different signals. When recorded at low incidence or detection angles, XAS and specular reflectivity spectra are distorted by the changes of the angle of total reflection with energy. Also the step peak spectra, though less affected, show an energy shift of the peak maxima in grazing incidence geometry.

This research presents the deposition and device fabrication of epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 (PZT) thin films for applications in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). A piezoelectric micro-membrane is described as an example. Using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique and the MEMS microfabrication process, the piezo-membranes with diameters ranging from 200 to 500 μm were obtained. The displacement of piezo-membranes increased from 5.1 to 17.5 nm V −1 with a piezoelectric-membrane diameter in the range of 200–500 μm. Furthermore, the effect of PZT film-thickness on the mechanical properties has been investigated. By using the conductive-oxide SrRuO 3 (SRO) layers as the electrodes, the degradation of both ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties is prevented up to 1010 switching cycles.