Nanocrystalline SnO2 thin films were synthesized by Chemical Vapor Deposition on Si(100) and Al2O3 substrates using bis(diethylamino)dimethylstannane(IV) [(CH3)2Sn(N(C2H5)2)2] as precursor. Film growth was performed at 400-500°C in an O2(H2O)+N2 atmosphere, with the aim of studying the effects of the synthesis conditions on the coating properties. The sample chemical composition and surface morphology were analyzed by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), while their structural features were investigated by Glancing Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD) and X-ray Reflectivity (XRR). In this paper, the attention is focused on the interplay between film nanostructure and morphology, with particular regard to the influence of the growth surface.

TiO2and W:TiO2 thin films have been prepared by a chemically modified sol-gel technique, that implies hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethylortotitanate in the presence of a polymer dissolved in ethanol. Oxide-polymer films were deposited by dip-coating. Annealing at 500°C results in nanosized structurally stable oxides films. For doping tungsten(V)ethoxide was used in concentration that led to a final W/Ti atomic ratio of 1/33, 5/33, 10/33. The morphological and structural characteristics of thin films were studied through microraman, GIXRD, SEM and TEM. A microstructural comparison between pure and doped TiO2 layers is reported. Ethanol and methanol sensing properties are tested.

The oxidation of tin layers deposited onto alumina substrates is investigated with the aim to identify the different steps of the process and obtain information on the sample homogeneity, phase segregation, and degree of oxidation. It is shown that at least three phases coexist at 450 °C, Sn, SnO, and SnO2, and remarkable inhomogeneities, already visible at an optical inspection, are found in the thin film. A micro-Raman mapping of the layer shows that these inhomogeneities are related to the presence of different Sn oxidation states, as evidenced by the inhomogeneous distribution of SnO and SnOx Raman bands. The thin film becomes homogeneous after annealing treatments above 550 °C, where only the SnO2 cassiterite phase is detected.

The influence of the niobium content on the anatase-to-rutile phase transition in nanopowders of Nb–Ti oxides was studied and the changes in the particle size and microstrain distribution obtained at different temperatures were analyzed. A correlation is found between the initial microstructure in the Ti1 – xNbxO2 (x = 0.03, 0.2) powder and the niobium content. The presence of Nb was found to inhibit the growth of both the anatase and the rutile phases.

We report on a microscopy and diffraction study of commercially available Cu-doped ZnS powders, along with an optical spectroscopy study of electroluminescent lamps fabricated with these powders. The results allowed us to identify a correlation between the microstructure and the optical properties (i.e. photoluminescence) of the ZnS powders. It is found that the best powders for EL lamps are those displaying a prevalent cubic, i.e. zincblend, structure, while the poor performances of the mixed phase (cubic + hexagonal) are tentatively ascribed to the quenching of luminescence due to defects (stacking faults) introduced into the cubic structure and resulting in a considerable amount of hexagonal phase, as detected by XRD. The mostly cubic powders have been selected to realize EL lamps. The optical properties of these lamps have been investigated by photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectroscopies with the aim to identify the degradation mechanisms leading to a decrease of brightness. The quenching of electroluminescence is primarily ascribed to a deterioration of the electrical contacts. However, the reduced brightness in photoluminescence spectra seems to indicate that additional quenching of luminescence is induced by transformations at the emitting layer of the lamps. This degradation is tentatively ascribed to the presence of voids in the emitting layer, which might induce, acting as traps for moisture, transformations in the optical and electrical properties of the transparent electrode (ITO).

Thin films of the Ti-W-O system grown by r.f. reactive sputtering from a Ti-W (10%–90% weight) target have been studied by Raman and microraman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy with the aim to investigate their microstructural and morphological properties. To this purpose, the kinetics of structural transformations at different temperatures (600 °C, and 800 °C) have been studied, and the effect of Ti on the WO3 lattice has been singled out. The results show that annealing at different temperatures induces a microstructural evolution from the amorphous phase of the as-deposited thin film to WO3 crystalline phases via an intermediate cubic disordered phase of WO3. The effect of Ti on this cubic phase and on the thin film morphology is also investigated with the aid of microraman and scanning electron microscopy analysis. The results show that two distinct phases arise upon long annealing treatments; namely, small crystallites belonging to the WO3 monoclinic phase are dispersed on a layer composed of a disordered cubic WO3 phase with a high Ti content.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of pure and K chemisorbed VxOy/TiO2 powders are reported. Core-line and valence band spectra suggest the presence of vanadium open shell ions on the pure VxOy/TiO2 interface, whereas potassium vanadate seems to form after K chemisorption. That results in the presence of a significant amount of gap states, with vanadium character, just above the O2p band edge, for the pure VxOy/TiO2 powder, while K chemisorption, reducing significantly the open shell vanadium ions, quenches the gap emission in the XPS valence band spectra.

Powder samples of pure anatase were produced using laser-induced pyrolysis of titanium alkoxides, and the catalysts were prepared using conventional wet impregnation methods. The diffraction patterns were interpreted in microstructural terms by Fourier analysis of their peak profiles. The transition temperature for the anatase-rutile transition in these catalysts was found between 500° and 550 °C. For the reflections of the anatase phase, a decrease of their Bragg (2θ) positions was observed up to 550 °C when the presence of the rutile phase becomes important. The response of the anatase structure to the thermal treatment is anisotropic with the c-axis showing the highest sensitivity to the observed expansion of the lattice. The rutile Bragg reflections are sharper than those of the anatase phase. The corresponding microstructural parameters indicate that, in all cases, the transformation is accompanied by an increase of the crystallites and/or of the lattice perfection. The evolution of these parameters is influenced by the presence of vanadium. The V-treated surface layer must be particularly distorted and apparently act as a restraint to perfecting by thermal treatments. Only the transition to rutile is capable of overcoming that restraint by allowing crystallite growth at the expense of the smaller and distorted anatase crystallites.

On the basis of a previously described structural model for the Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia, the conductivity for this material can be calculated. A fixed number of clusters is generated in a structure of 70×28 polyhedra to simulate different Y contents in the structure. The results are compared with the experimental results obtained by others and discussed.