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In this study, the deposition and characteristics of Si- and Ti-series multilayer coatings with respective glass/Si3N4/NiCr/Ag/NiCr/Si3N4 and glass/TiO2/ZnSnO3/ZnO/Ag/NiCrOx/ZnSnO3/Si3N4 structures were investigated. Experimental analyses were performed, and the optical performance and thermal stability of the coatings were assessed. The as-deposited Si- and the Ti-series samples exhibited optimal shading coefficient of 0.49 and 0.57, respectively. Thermal annealing in air was performed to analyze the thermal stability and oxidation resistance of the samples. The Si- and Ti-series samples prevented the failure of low-emissivity properties at 700 and 600 °C, respectively. In addition to high transparency, the Si-series samples exhibited improved low-emissivity properties, reduced light pollution, and superior thermal stability compared to the Ti-series samples. The use of Si3N4 and NiCr layers effectively prevented the oxidation and cracking of the Ag layer upon heat treatment. This study presents the characteristics of Si- and Ti-series samples for energy-saving building applications.

Zn–Ti–O films were co-sputtered from Zn and Ti targets and then annealed at temperatures ranging from 600 °C to 900 °C for 2 h under an air atmosphere. The [Ti]/([Ti]+[Zn]) ratio decreased from 75.52 to 28.26 as the Zn-target power increased from 25 W to 75 W. The phase transition of the films strongly depended on the [Ti]/([Ti]+[Zn]) ratio. High [Ti]/([Ti]+[Zn]) ratios led to the coexistence of ZnTiO3, Zn2Ti3O8, and rutile TiO2 phases. Zn2Ti3O8 gradually became the major crystalline phase as the [Ti]/([Ti]+[Zn]) ratio and rutile TiO2 and ZnTiO3 phases decreased. The aforementioned phases disappeared when the [Ti]/([Ti]+[Zn]) ratio was especially low. In their place, Zn2TiO4 and even ZnO phases developed. The dielectric constant of the films increased with increasing [Ti]/([Ti]+[Zn]) ratio. However, extremely high [Ti]/([Ti]+[Zn]) ratios increased the dielectric loss of the films. The film mainly composed of the Zn2Ti3O8 phase exhibited optimal dielectric properties, including a dielectric constant and loss equal to 40.1 and 0.0304, respectively, at 1 MHz.

Cu–Cr–O films were prepared by DC magnetron co-sputtering using Cu and Cr targets on quartz substrates. The films were then annealed at temperatures ranging from 400 °C to 900 °C for 2 h under a controlled Ar atmosphere. The as-deposited and 400 °C-annealed films were amorphous, semi-transparent, and insulated. After annealing at 500 °C, the Cu–Cr–O films contained a mixture of monoclinic CuO and spinel CuCr 2 O 4 phases. Annealing at 600 °C led to the formation of delafossite CuCrO 2 phases. When the annealing was further increased to temperatures above 700 °C, the films exhibited a pure delafossite CuCrO 2 phase. The crystallinity and grain size also increased with the annealing temperature. The formation of the delafossite CuCrO 2 phase during post-annealing processing was in good agreement with thermodynamics. The optimum conductivity and transparency were achieved for the film annealed at approximately 700 °C with a figure of merit of 1.51×10 −8 Ω −1 (i.e., electrical resistivity of up to 5.13 Ω-cm and visible light transmittance of up to 58.3%). The lower formation temperature and superior properties of CuCrO 2 found in this study indicated the higher potential of this material for practical applications compared to CuAlO 2 .

Within the frame of this work, reactive magnetron-sputtered (TiZrHf)N coatings were deposited on Si substrates. The depositions were carried out from a pure TiZrHf target with varying N 2 -to-total (N 2 +Ar) flow ratios, R N . The TiZrHf alloy and its nitride coatings exhibited body-centered cubic and face-centered cubic crystal structures, respectively. The increase in R N contributed to the decrease in O 2 contamination. For nitrides, with increasing R N , the grain size decreased to a nano-sized level. Consequently, the microstructure of the nitride coatings was converted from a large columnar structure with rough surface to a fine columnar structure with a smooth surface. Moreover, the compressive stress and the corresponding lattice parameter increased initially and then decreased. The golden-like (TiZrHf)N coatings deposited at R N =20% exhibited the highest hardness of 40.7 GPa, which attained the superhard grade. Meanwhile, low electrical resistivity of 129.2 μΩ-cm and high reflectivity at 0.62 eV of 84.0% were obtained. The electro-optical behavior of (TiZrHf)N coatings was demonstrated further by spectroscopic ellipsometry on the basis of their dielectric function and energy loss function. The gold-colored (TiZrHf)N coating with excellent physical properties has a wide range of diverse potential industrial applications.

The effects of Mn 3 O 4 addition and annealing under a reducing atmosphere (N 2 :H 2 =97:3) on the microstructure and phase stability of calcia-stabilized zirconia (CSZ) ceramics sintered at 1500 °C for 3 h in air were investigated. Undoped and Mn 3 O 4 -doped 12.5 mol% CSZ (125CSZ) ceramics were prepared via a conventional solid-state reaction process. X-ray diffraction patterns showed a single cubic phase of ZrO 2 in 0.3 mol% Mn 3 O 4 -doped 125CSZ after sintering at 1500 °C for 3 h. Monoclinic ZrO 2 phases were observed in 0.5 mol% Mn 3 O 4 -doped 125CSZ and undoped 15 mol% CSZ ceramic after annealing at 1300 °C for 30 cycles in a reducing atmosphere. The amount of monoclinic ZrO 2 phase observed in 0.5 mol% Mn 3 O 4 -doped 125CSZ was less than that found in undoped 15 mol% CSZ annealed at 1300 °C under a reducing atmosphere.