Textured Manganite Films Anywhere.

New paradigms are required in microelectronics when the transistor is in its downscaling limit and integration of materials presenting functional properties not available in classical silicon is one of the promising alternatives. Here, we demonstrate the possibility to grow LaSrMnO (LSMO) functional materials on amorphous substrates with properties close to films grown on single-crystalline substrates using a two-dimensional seed layer. X-ray diffraction and electron backscatter diffraction mapping demonstrate that the CaNbO nanosheet (NS) layer induces epitaxial stabilization of LSMO films with a strong out-of-plane (001) texture, whereas the growth of LSMO films on uncoated glass substrates exhibits a nontextured polycrystalline phase.

In Situ Synchrotron Powder Diffraction Study of Cd Intercalation into Chevrel Phases: Crystal Structure and Kinetic Effect.

Chevrel phases are molybdenum chalcogenides of formula M MoX (where M is a cation and X is a chalcogen) that present a complex and captivating intercalation chemistry that has drawn the interest of the solid-state chemistry community since their discovery. This property has a huge potential for applied science and device development for energy storage and pollutant removal and detection, but a deeper knowledge of the intercalation processes and chemistry is still necessary. In the present work, the intercalation of Cd in aqueous solution has been studied, taking advantage of the complementarity of electrochemical characterization and synchrotron powder diffraction acquired during an in situ combined experiment.

A Twofold Approach in Loss Reduction of KTaNbO Ferroelectric Layers for Low-Loss Tunable Devices at Microwaves.

Ferroelectric oxide films are attractive to design and fabricate reconfigurable and miniaturized planar devices operating at microwaves due to the large electric field dependence of their dielectric permittivity. In particular, KTaNbO (KTN) ferroelectric material presents a high tunability under moderate dc bias electric field. However, its intrinsic dielectric loss strongly contributes to the global loss of the related devices and limits their application areas at microwaves.

Reactivity of platinum metal with organic radical anions from metal to negative oxidation states.

The reaction of platinum metal with an organic molecular radical anion leads to the formation of iono-metallic phases where Pt exists under negative oxidation states. This puzzling transformation of a "noncorrodible metal" was examined using localized electrochemical techniques in dimethylformamide containing different tetra-alkylammonium salts chosen as test systems. Our experiments demonstrate that the platinum metal is locally reduced as soon as the Pt faces relatively moderate reducing conditions, for example, when the Pt is used as a negative electrode or when the metal is in the presence of a reducing agent such as an organic radical anion.

KTa0.6Nb0.4O3 ferroelectric thin film behavior at microwave frequencies for tunable applications.

In this study about the relationships between structural and microwave electrical properties of KTa(1-x)NbxO3 (KTN) ferroelectric materials, a KTN thin film was deposited on different substrates to investigate how KTN growth affects the microwave behavior. Interdigital capacitors and stubs were made on these films through a simple engraving process. Microwave measurements under a static electric field showed the importance of the substrate on the circuit behavior and, notably, on the tuning factor.