La1−xSrxMnO3 (LSMO) (x = 0−0.3) films were prepared on SrTiO3(001) substrates by the dipping-pyrolysis process using metal naphthenates as starting materials. Epitaxially grown LSMO films were obtained by heat treatment at 800–1200 °C; the fluctuation of alignment of these films, evaluated by reciprocal-space mapping of asymmetric x-ray diffraction, was markedly small, as comparable to that of the substrates. The LSMO films with x = 0.1−0.3 showed metallic conduction behavior at 25–300 K, and the resistivity was as low as that of LSMO single crystals, e.g., 4.5 × 10−4 Ω · cm at 150 K for the film with x = 0.3.

Optical inhomogeneities through the thickness of a sol-gel-derived, spin-coated Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) thin film have been evaluated using prism-coupled waveguide refractometry. Unusual waveguide coupling angle behavior has been treated using a multilayer model to describe the optical characteristics of the film. Waveguide refractometry measurements, performed after incremental reductions in film thickness, were used to develop a consistent model for optical inhomogeneity through the film thickness. Specifically, a thin film layer model, consisting of alternating layers of high and low refractive index material, was found to accurately predict irregularities in transverse-electric (TE) mode coupling angles exhibited by the film. This layer structure has a spatial periodicity that is consistent with the positions of the upper film surface at intermediate firings during film synthesis. The correlation emphasizes the impact of the multistep thin-film deposition approach on the optical characteristics of the resulting thin film.

The feasibility of in situ coating of titania particles with silica using a high-temperature, gas-phase process was demonstrated. Titania was produced from the reaction of TiCl4 and O2 in a hot-wall, tubular, aerosol reactor and directly coated in the gas phase via the reaction of O2 with SiCl4 vapor. Rough SiO2 coatings were obtained at 1300 °C while uniform, dense coatings were obtained at all conditions examined for 1500 °C. The presence of water in the reactor significantly influenced the morphology of the coatings and resulted in smooth, dense, and uniform coatings at 1300 °C. Coating thicknesses could be controlled from 5 nm to roughly 100 nm, corresponding to growth rates on the order of 10–100 nmys. The characteristics of the coatings depended upon the concentration of SiCl4 and the coating temperature. These process variables influenced the coating mechanism, growth rate, and densification which directly influenced the coating uniformity and thickness.

SnO2–CuO mixture phase has been prepared by pyrolysis of an aerosol produced by ultrahigh frequency of different precursor solutions. As-received samples were annealed in different conditions to study the influence of the temperature on the microstructure. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the samples consisted of hollow spherical particles and rings, depending on the precursor solution utilized. The evolution of conductance under both pure and polluted air is discussed.

Organoceramics are a new class of polymer/ceramic nanocomposite materials where polymer chains are molecularly mixed with the ceramics. A structural model for poly(vinyl alcohol) organoceramic nanocomposite materials proposed by Messersmith and Stupp [J. Mater. Res. 7, 2599–2611 (1992)] claims that polymer chains disperse in the interlayers of the ceramic precursor, causing a broadening of the basal plane spacing. The present research revealed this basal plane broadening does not exist. A new model was constructed where the polymer acts as a template for the ceramic microcrystals to nucleate and grow to reach a size of 20 Å. The ceramic microcrystals (hydrogen bonded to the polymer) further agglomerate and grow to the resulting rosette morphology, whereby the polymer is molecularly dispersed on the nanoscale throughout the ceramic.