The first growth of superconducting YBaCuO films by organometallic chemical vapor deposition is described. Metal β-diketonates were decomposed thermally on MgO substrates in an oxygen-rich atmosphere to produce amorphous brown films. Subsequent annealing in oxygen yielded dull gray films whose thickness corresponded to deposition rates of approximately 8 nm min−1. These films showed semiconductor-like behavior at higher temperatures, followed by a broad resistive transition from 80 to 36 K with the resistance becoming zero at ∼20 K. Analysis of x-ray data indicated the presence of the orthorhombic superconducting phase and various other metal oxides. Profilometer measurements yielded film thicknesses up to 950 nm, and scanning electron microscopy revealed faceted grains from 0.5 to 1.0 μm in size.

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The microwave dielectric response of a ferroelectric thin film is measured locally using time-resolved confocal scanning optical microscopy. Measurements performed on an ensemble of nanometer-scale regions show a well-defined phase shift between the paraelectric and ferroelectric response at 2-4 GHz. Application of a static electric field produces large local variations in the phase of the ferroelectric response. These variations are attributed to the growth of in-plane ferroelectric nanodomains whose size-dependent relaxation frequencies lead to strong dielectric dispersion at mesoscopic scales.

In this letter we report the application of barium–strontium–titanate (BST) thin film oxides as the dielectric layer in radio-frequency-microelectromechanical system (rf-MEMS) capacitive switches. BST thin films deposited at ambient temperature by off-axis sputtering have been employed for application in rf-MEMS switches. Their dielectric properties have been characterized in the frequency range from 1 to 20 GHz both on magnesium oxide and on gold metal films. Switches have been fabricated which demonstrate promising on-state capacitance and good dielectric breakdown properties. Dielectric breakdown in excess of 400 kV/cm has been measured on switches cycled in excess of 2000 times during testing.

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