Micro-Raman measurements of xBa(Mg1/3Ta2/3)O3–(1−x)Ba(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 perovskite ceramics, with x=0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.0, were taken at room temperature. Raman results clearly show the 1:2 ordered structures of these compounds. Four A1g and five Eg Raman modes were unambiguously assigned. The A1g(O) phonon of the oxygen-octahedron stretch mode, which possesses the largest energy and width of all the observed Raman phonons, significantly influences the microwave dielectric properties of the materials. A higher vibration frequency of A1g(O) mode results in a lower dielectric constant, and a wider width of the mode corresponds to a lower Q×f value.

The modification on microstructure of diamond films due to the incorporation of H2 species into the Ar/CH4 plasma was systematically investigated. While the hydrogen-free plasma produced the ultrananocrystalline diamond films with equiaxed grains (about 5 nm in size), the hydrogen-containing plasma resulted in platelike grains (about 100×300 nm2 in size). The size of the platelike grains increased with the H2 content in the plasma. Transmission electron microscopy and optical emission spectroscopy reveal that only 0.1%H2 incorporated in the Ar/CH4 plasma is sufficient for inducing the formation of platelike grains, suggesting that the platelike grains are formed via the competition between the attachment and the etching of hydrocarbons onto the existing diamond surfaces. In Ar plasma, the diamond grains were always passivated with hydrocarbons and the active carbon species in the plasma can only renucleate to form nanocrystalline diamond grains. Incorporation of H2 species in the plasma leads to partial etching of hydrocarbons adhered onto the diamond grains, such that active carbon species in the plasma can attach to diamond surface anisotropically, resulting in diamond flakes and dendrites geometry.

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The effect of diamondlike carbon (DLC) films coated by pulsed laser deposition technique on the electron emission characteristics of Mo tips is examined. Turn-on voltage (V0) was lowered from 40 V for Mo tips to 22 V for DLC coated Mo tips and maximum anode current (IA) was increased from ∼44 μA for Mo tips to ∼2.0 mA for DLC coated Mo tips. Maximum anode current (IA) for the DLC coated Mo tips, however, decreased during operation. Raman spectroscopy and selected area diffraction (SAD) in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the degradation of electron emission behavior can be ascribed to the conversion of sp3-bonds, characteristic for diamond, to sp2-bonds, characteristics for graphite. The transformation of the structure is assumed to be induced by the local heat from the DLC coatings.

The evolution of diamond films in bias-enhanced-nucleation (BEN) and bias-enhanced-growth (BEG) processes was systematically investigated. While the BEN process can efficiently form diamond nuclei on the Si substrates, BEG with large enough applied field (> –400 V) and for sufficiently long periods (>60 min) was needed to develop proper granular structure for the diamond films so as to enhance the electron field emission (EFE) properties of the films. For the films BEG under −400 V for 60 min (after BEN for 10 min), the EFE process can be turned on at a field as small as 3.6 V/μm, attaining a EFE current density as large as 325 μA/cm2 at an applied field of 15 V/μm. Such an EFE behavior is even better than that of the ultrananocrystalline diamond films grown in CH4/Ar plasma. Transmission electron microscopic examination reveals that the prime factor enhancing the EFE properties of these films is the induction of the nano-graphite filaments along the thickness of the films that facilitates the transport of electrons through the films.