Publication Date:
2017-01-01
Description:
Most functional materials are thermodynamic equilibrium phases representing minima in the thermodynamic phase space. However, it is expected that many metastable phases with highly interesting properties also exist. Here, we report on a systematic approach to prepare thin-films of such non-equilibrium phases based on the gas phase deposition methods sputtering and pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Our synthetic strategy is to deposit a “precursor phase” which is amorphous or already a crystalline non-equilibrium phase. Subsequent heat treatment leads to the nucleation of crystalline phases which again may be metastable or stable compounds. In the present paper we focus on the binary systems Ti–O and Zr–O, both systems being widely applied and technologically relevant. Highly oxygen-deficient titanium oxide (TiO
Print ISSN:
2194-4946
Electronic ISSN:
2196-7105
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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