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The paper describes an experimental technique combining optical interferometry and ultrasonic attenuation to measure the bulk modulus (compressibility) and film thickness profiles of oil and grease films entrapped between a stationary steel ball and a sapphire plate. Results are presented for lithium- and urea-based greases, and their base oils alone, at contact pressures up to and around 3 GPa, and are compared with some models and results from other studies, extrapolated to the higher pressures achieved here. Results show that the bulk modulus of a particular grease and its base oil are found to be similar, at a given pressure, and largely dependent on the base-oil properties, which is demonstrated to be what is expected with the concentration levels of fillers and solid lubricants present. However, the film shapes measured for the grease and its base oil can be quite different. This is seemingly due to the manner in which the lubricant samples 'solidify', due to the high pressures, and also to the way in which the edges of the squeeze-film entrapped fluid are sealed. This latter sealing effect seems to be assisted by secondary phases, particularly with greases where fillers and solid lubricants are present, creating a very effective sealed contact where the entrapped lubricant samples could be observed to remain stable for several hours. [DOI: 10.1115/1.2125887]

High frequency, thickness mode resonators were fabricated using a 7-mu m piezoelectric transducer (PZT) thick film that was produced using a modified composite ceramic sol-gel process. Sol-gel derived ZrO(sub 2) was required as a diffusion barrier layer when using SiO(sub 2) as the each stop layer. The model showed that the PZT thick film has an e(sub 33) coefficient of 9 C.m(super -2).

A study was conducted, using the synchrotron x-ray technique, to investigate the evolution of strain in the InN/Al2O3(0001) films. The strain was relieved as the film thickness increased, while columnar seeds started to nucleate on the parts of the film.

The thickness and angular dependencies of exchange bias induced by the exchange coupling in ferromagnetic(FM)/antiferromagnetic(AFM) bilayers system is studied. The results show that the exchange bias always depends linearly on the reciprocal of the FM layer thickness, no matter how to apply an external field.

The field emission properties of thick films of carbon nanohorns are reported. The films show good field emission characteristics, a low turn-on field and good long-term stability due to the sharp horn-like structures.

The 2-methoxyethanol based sol-gel spin-on techniques with a special thermal treatment process are used to cover the Pb(Zr(sub x)Ti(sub 1-x))O(sub 3) (PZT) films with Zr/Ti ratios of 60/40, 52/48, and 45/55 onto platinized silicon substrates. The scanning electron microscopy observations show the columnar growth of grains, and the analysis of x-ray diffraction data indicates that all PZT films exhibit (100) texture.