Abstract: The microstructure of BaTiO3 thin films, epitaxially deposited on (001) MgO by pulsed laser ablation, has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The films are always c-axis-orientated, but dislocations, {111} stacking faults, and antiphase boundaries are frequently observed. Conventional TEM and high-resolution microscopy allow one to deduce the Burgers vectors of dislocations as b(1) = <100> or b(2) = <110>, both being perfect dislocations. Most extrinsic stacking faults are ending at 1/3<112> or 1/3<111> partial dislocations; the displacement vector of the antiphase boundaries is 1/2<101>. Studying the interfacial structure by means of zone images taken along [100] and [110] shows that the misfit is mainly released by dislocations with Burgers vectors of 1/2<110> and 1/2<101>.

Abstract: Yittria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) films doped with 3 and 9 vol%. Y(2)O(3), respectively, are epitaxially deposited on (0 0 1) silicon substrates by means of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction are mainly combined to study the film microstructure. It is: found that the film structure strongly depends on the amount of Y(2)O(3) dopant. 99/0 Y(2)O(3)-doped films display a near cubic structure; 45 degrees 1/2(1 1 0) dislocations are the main defects in the film and thermal cracks are formed during cooling. The 3% Y(2)O(3)-doped films are dominated by {1 1 0} twin-related tetragonal domains in which monoclinic phase is found. The films are free of thermal cracks even for films thicker than 2 mum. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.