AbstractPulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) was used to deposit La-doped Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) thin films onto NiTi foils. The substrate alloy with composition Ni50Ti50 shows a strong shape memory effect with a transition temperature of about 80°C. This simple bicomponental system could have the potential of an actuator device (NiTi shows a strain up to 5 % during thermal cycling) with an inherent sensorial component (PZT) for the generated elongation. The deposited ceramic films were characterized with respect to their structural properties (XRD) and their ferroelectric behavior (P-E hysteresis). Under certain deposition conditions the growth of pure perovskite PZT on the polycrystalline shape memory alloy was observed. The growth morphology of PZT on NiTi was compared to the one of PZT on single crystalline substrates whereas no distinctive texture of the films on NiTi could be found. The ferroelectric behavior of the PZT films depend on the stage of bending of the film-substrate compound.
Tetramethylbenzidine–TetrafluoroTCNQ (TMB–TCNQF4): A Narrow-Gap Semiconducting Salt with Room-Temperature Relaxor Ferroelectric Behavior