Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) films with (001) orientation were deposited on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) substrates using pulsed laser deposition. Variation of the laser pulse rate during the deposition of the PZT films was found to play a key role in the control of the microstructure and to change strongly the piezoelectric response of the thin film. The film deposited at low pulse rate has a denser co...

Specular X-ray reflectivity (XR) and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements were used to determine the absorption of water into thin poly(4-ammonium styrenesulfonic acid) films from saturated vapor at 25 degrees C. The effect of film thickness on the absorption kinetics and overall absorption was investigated in the range of thickness from (3 to 200) nm. The equilibrium swelling of all ...

We report an experimental investigation on the effect of mutual diffusion in polymeric systems on film drainage between two captive drops. The main objective is to study the influence of diffuse interfaces on film drainage. This is done by using material combinations with different interfacial properties and interferometric visualization of the film between two interacting drops. For highly dif...

Successful application of sol-gel, metalorganic decomposition, or hydrothermal routes to ceramic thin films depends on the mechanical integrity of the precursor film. Above a critical thickness, a precursor film will crack or decohere from the substrate during drying. The cracking and thickness of thin metalorganic precursor films were simultaneously observed during drying using a standard opti...

The thickness dependence of the topographic and magnetic structure of ultrathin Fe films grown on polycrystalline NiO films under ultrahigh vacuum ~UHV! conditions was studied to investigate the growth mechanism of the ferromagnetic film and the corresponding magnetic interaction with the antiferromagnetic substrate. Externally prepared NiO films of 60 nm thickness were cleaned by heating in UH...

We present an asymptotic analysis of the thickness of the liquid film that coats a smooth solid substrate when it is withdrawn from a bath of non-Newtonian fluid, and compare our results with experimental measurements. The film thickness is, to a good approximation, uniform above the point where the film is withdrawn from the fluid bath, and depends on the rotation rate, the fluid properties an...

We, using LSMO:ZnO nanocomposite films as a model system, have studied the effect of film thickness on the physical properties of nanocomposites. It shows that strain, microstructure, as well as magnetoresistance strongly rely on film thickness. The magnetotransport properties have been fitted by a modified parallel connection channel model, which is in agreement with the microstructure evoluti...

The spin coating of thin (> 200 nm thick) and ultrathin (< 200 nm thick) polymer films is examined in several solvents of varying volatility over a broad range of polymer solution concentrations and spin speeds. Experimentally measured film thicknesses are compared with a simple model proposed by Bornside, Macosko, and Scriven, which predicts film thickness based on the initial properties of th...

The ellipsometric film thickness measurement precision for equivalent oxide thickness as prescribed by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors is quite high. Although short-term precision on a single ellipsometric instrument can be quite high, deviations of measured film thickness from instrument-to-instrument and from lab-to-lab for short-term and long-term periods of time need...