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Tungsten trioxide is a binary oxide that has potential applications in electrochromic windows, gas sensors, photo-catalysts, and superconductivity. Here, we analyze the crystal structure of atomically flat epitaxial layers on YAlO3 single crystal substrates and perform nanoscale investigations of the ferroelastic twins revealing a hierarchical structure at multiple length scales. We have found that the finest stripe ferroelastic twin walls along pseudocubic <100> axes are associated with cooperative mosaic rotations of the monoclinic films and the larger stripe domains along pseudocubic <110> axes are created to reduce the misfit strain through a commensurate matching of an effective in-plane lattice parameter between film and substrate. The typical widths of the two fine and larger stripe domains increase with film thickness following a power law with scaling exponents of ~0.6 and ~0.4, respectively. We have also found that the twin structure can be readily influenced by illumination with an electron beam or a tip-based mechanical compression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly dense, 4 lm-thick Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) film is deposited on amorphous magnetostrictive Metglas foil (FeBSi) by granule spray in vacuum process at room temperature, followed by its localized annealing with a continuous-wave 560 nm ytterbium fiber laser radiation. This longerwavelength laser radiation is able to anneal the whole of thick PZT film layer without any deteriorative effects, such as chemical reaction and/or atomic diffusion, at the interface and crystallization of amorphous Metglas substrate. Greatly enhanced dielectric and ferroelectric properties of the annealed PZT are attributed to its better crystallinity and grain growth induced by laser irradiation. As a result, a colossal off-resonance magnetoelectric (ME) voltage coefficient that is two orders of magnitude larger than previously reported output from PZT/Metglas film-composites is achieved. The present work addresses the problems involved in the fabrication of PZT/Metglas filmcomposites and opens up emerging possibilities in employing piezoelectric materials with low thermal budget substrates (suitable for integrated electronics) and designing laminate composites for ME based devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is demonstrated that either a strong nonlinear or a nearly Ohmic behavior in current-voltage relationship can be distinctively represented in Sc-doped polycrystalline CaCu3Ti4O12, with variation in the initial composition of samples. Through conductive atomic force microscopy and impedance spectroscopy, such a definitive difference in the electrical property was found to depend on the presence of a large electrostatic barrier at the grain boundaries. The effect of Sc ions on the boundary potential barrier and the conductance of single grains is discussed. Findings suggest a different site selectivity of Sc in the lattice in terms of the initial cation stoichiometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we report on dielectric and leakage current characteristics of room temperature deposited Bi1.5Zn1.0Nb1.5O7 (BZN) films on the basis of crystallographic structure and suitability of BZN gate insulators as key building blocks in the fabrication of low voltage operating ZnO based thin-film transistors (TFTs). The BZN films exhibited a high dielectric constant (∼51) and good leakage current characteristics (∼10-7 A/cm2) at an applied voltage of 5 V. All room temperature processed ZnO based TFTs using BZN gate insulator exhibited field effect mobility of 1.13 cm2/Vs and low voltage device performance less than 4 V. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By doping a few atomic percent of 3d-block cations, we demonstrate that the high dielectric response in CaCu3Ti4O12 can be reduced by a factor of ∼103 at room temperature. Each of the added dopants shows its own preferential substitution on either Cu or Ti sites. The dopants that act as acceptors have a critical impact on the disappearance of the electrostatic potential barrier at grain boundaries, resulting in drastically decreased permittivity values of <90 without voltage dependence. The present doping experiment directly shows that the potential barrier at internal interfaces is a key factor for the peculiar dielectric phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an embedded single crystal in a polycrystalline matrix and quantitative electron energy loss spectroscopy, we have demonstrated that Ti-excess grain boundary nonstoichiometry can vary with the extent of boundary migration. While a slight excess in Ti was detected at the boundaries between small matrix grains, a large increase in Ti/Ba ratio, to as much as ∼1.50 compared to the stoichiometric value, was present at the interface between a growing single crystal and the matrix grains when the embedded crystal grew up to a few hundred micrometers. This change in nonstoichiometry was attributed to a continuous accumulation of excessive Ti at the moving boundary during crystal growth. The present result indicates that growth kinetics can critically affect the interface chemistry in polycrystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an embedded single crystal in a polycrystalline matrix and quantitative electron energy loss spectroscopy, we have demonstrated that Ti-excess grain boundary nonstoichiometry can vary with the extent of boundary migration. While a slight excess in Ti was detected at the boundaries between small matrix grains, a large increase in Ti/Ba ratio, to as much as ∼1.50 compared to the stoichiometric value, was present at the interface between a growing single crystal and the matrix grains when the embedded crystal grew up to a few hundred micrometers. This change in nonstoichiometry was attributed to a continuous accumulation of excessive Ti at the moving boundary during crystal growth. The present result indicates that growth kinetics can critically affect the interface chemistry in polycrystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]