Thin Films and Heterostructures for Oxide Electronics

Oxides form a broad subject area of research and technology development which encompasses different disciplines such as materials science, solid state chemistry, physics etc. The aim of this book is to demonstrate the interplay of these fields and to provide an introduction to the techniques and methodologies involving film growth, characterization and device processing. The literature in this field is thus fairly scattered in different research journals covering one or the other aspect of the specific activity. This situation calls for a book that will consolidate this information and thus enable a beginner as well as an expert to get an overall perspective of the field, its foundations, and its projected progress.With the ever-shrinking dimensions and ever-increasing speeds of conventional semiconductor-based micro and opto-electronic devices, scientific limitations are beginning to be felt by the technology sector in keeping pace with the newer device demands of the modern times. Novel approaches involving new materials such as functional oxides are being explored to tackle this problem. This research is already beginning to pave way for the next generation device concepts and configurations for advanced oxide electronics, encompassing magneto-optics and spintronics. §Thin Film Heterostructures for Oxide Electronic presents comprehensive chapters written by active researchers in the field of oxide films and heterostructures. These chapters capture the excitement of this emerging frontier of immense scientific and technological interest. They highlight the materials, physics, device and even key fabrication issues. Many interesting material systems such as magnetic, ferroelectric and superconducting oxides, wide band-gap semiconducting oxides and high-k dielectric oxides are discussed. With many references to the vast resource of recently published literature on the subject, this book intends to serve as a significant and insightful source of valuable information pertaining to the ongoing scientific debates, current state of understanding and future directions. As such, it should be very useful to university students, post docs, professors and research scientists in industries and national laboratories.