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The effect of growth conditions on the microstructure of BiFeO3-0.33BaTiO3 (BF-BT) films and the performance of bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators is analyzed using test structures with the BF-BT films grown at different positions relative to the plume axis in the pulsed laser deposition system. The BF-BT film grain size and surface roughness reveal a strong asymmetric surface distribution and decrease significantly in the film region facing the laser beam-plume interaction area. The (100) BF-BT texturing is enhanced in this film region. The variations in the BF-BT film microstructure result in corresponding variations of the BAW resonator performance. Their correlations are established using the model of the roughness induced attenuation of the reflected acoustic waves and theory of the dc field induced piezoelectric effect. The BAW resonators with the highest parameters are obtained in the BF-BT film region facing the laser beam-plume interaction area. The BAW resonators located in this film region reveal a mechanical Q-factor of 200 at 4.2 GHz, an effective electromechanical coupling coefficient of 10% and a tunability of the series resonance frequency of 4.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interaction layer is found at the Al/SiO2 interface in Al/AlOx/Al tunnel junctions grown on SiO2 substrates. The amorphous intermixing layer has an average thickness of about 5 nm. We present the detailed structure of this interfacial layer as determined by transmission electron microscopy. The layer contains alumina with aluminum being octahedrally coordinated according to electron energy loss spectroscopy analysis rather than tetrahedrally coordinated, where the latter coordination is the most common type in amorphous alumina. Depth profiles of the Al-O and Si-O bonding characteristics were also investigated using energy loss near edge structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Combined focused ion beam and scanning electron microscope (FIB‐SEM) tomography is a well‐established technique for high resolution imaging and reconstruction of the microstructure of a wide range of materials. Segmentation of FIB‐SEM data is complicated due to a number of factors; the most prominent is that for porous materials, the scanning electron microscope image slices contain information not only from the planar cross‐section of the material but also from underlying, exposed subsurface pores. In this work, we develop a segmentation method for FIB‐SEM data from ethyl cellulose porous films made from ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose (EC/HPC) polymer blends. These materials are used for coating pharmaceutical oral dosage forms (tablets or pellets) to control drug release. We study three samples of ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose with different volume fractions where the hydroxypropyl cellulose phase has been leached out, resulting in a porous material. The data are segmented using scale‐space features and a random forest classifier. We demonstrate good agreement with manual segmentations. The method enables quantitative characterization and subsequent optimization of material structure for controlled release applications. Although the methodology is demonstrated on porous polymer films, it is applicable to other soft porous materials imaged by FIB‐SEM. We make the data and software used publicly available to facilitate further development of FIB‐SEM segmentation methods. Lay Description: For imaging of very fine structures in materials, the resolution limits of, e.g. X‐ray computed tomography quickly become a bottleneck. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provides a way out, but it is essentially a two‐dimensional imaging technique. One manner in which to extend it to three dimensions is to use a focused ion beam (FIB) combined with a scanning electron microscopy and acquire tomography data. In FIB‐SEM tomography, ions are used to perform serial sectioning and the electron beam is used to image the cross section surface. This is a well‐established method for a wide range of materials. However, image analysis of FIB‐SEM data is complicated for a variety of reasons, in particular for porous media. In this work, we analyse FIB‐SEM data from ethyl cellulose porous films made from ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose (EC/HPC) polymer blends. These films are used as coatings for controlled drug release. The aim is to perform image segmentation, i.e. to identify which parts of the image data constitute the pores and the solid, respectively. Manual segmentation, i.e. when a trained operator manually identifies areas constituting pores and solid, is too time‐consuming to do in full for our very large data sets. However, by performing manual segmentation on a set of small, random regions of the data, we can train a machine learning algorithm to perform automatic segmentation on the entire data sets. The method yields good agreement with the manual segmentations and yields porosities of the entire data sets in very good agreement with expected values. The method facilitates understanding and quantitative characterization of the geometrical structure of the materials, and ultimately understanding of how to tailor the drug release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correlations between microstructure and Q-factor of tunable solidly mounted Ba0.25Sr0.75TiO3 (BSTO) thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators are studied using analysis of test structures prepared at different growth temperatures of the BSTO films varying in the range 450-650 °C. The observed changes in the Q-factor with growth temperature are correlated with related changes in microstructure, including the grain size, texture misalignment, interfacial amorphous layer, surface roughness, and deterioration of the Bragg reflector layers. The correlations are established through analysis of corresponding extrinsic acoustic loss mechanisms, including Rayleigh scattering at localized defects, acoustic attenuation by amorphous layer, generation of the shear waves leaking into the substrate, waves scattering by surface roughness, and resonance broadening by local thickness variations. It is shown that the waves scattering by surface roughness at the BSTO film interfaces is the main loss mechanism limiting the Q-factor of the BSTO thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tunable 5.2 GHz bulk acoustic wave resonators utilizing BaxSr1-xTiO3 ferroelectric films with similar intrinsic properties but different interface roughness are fabricated and characterized. Increase in roughness from 3.2 nm up to 6.9 nm results in reduction in Q-factor from 350 down to 150 due to extrinsic acoustic losses caused by wave scattering at reflections from rough interfaces and other mechanisms associated with roughness. The increased roughness is a result of distortion of Pt bottom electrode caused by formation of heterogeneous enclosures of TiO2-x in the Pt layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current and voltage noise measurements have been carried out on nanoparticle WO[sub 3] films. The fluctuation dissipation theorem holds, which indicates that the observed noise is an equilibrium phenomenon. Results on the thinnest films show that noise measurements can be used for quality assessment of nanocrystalline insulating films. © 2002 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced gas deposition was used to produce nanocrystalline gold films under conditions giving four different deposition rates. Grain growth and structural modification of the grain boundaries were probed during annealing by use of in situ electrical transport measurements. Time dependent resistivity data were fitted to a relaxation model whose activation energy went up upon increased isothermal annealing temperature. The grain boundary transmission coefficient for the samples scaled, up to a certain limit, with the deposition rate; this is believed to be due to a higher concentration of pores, or a wider grain boundary region containing a disordered structure, in samples prepared at low deposition rates. Such samples also displayed enhanced thermal stability with negligible grain growth up to 773 K upon annealing in vacuum for 2 h. Samples prepared above this limit, at the highest deposition rate, exhibited a decreased grain boundary transmission coefficient. © 2002 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy facilitated the study of the initial growth stages of YBa2Cu3O(7-delta) (YBCO) films that were grown on (001) Y-ZrO2 substrates using pulsed laser deposition. Initial growth stages include the formation of large CuO particles and a YBCO layer that was one unit cell thick.