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A simple system has been developed for the preparation of stable precursor solutions for dip coating (Ba1−xSrx)TiO3 thin films. From such stable solutions highly crystalline, uniform and crack‐free thin films are obtained by dip coating, followed by annealing at temperatures as low as 600°C. The pyrolysis behavior, crystallization mechanism, and thin film morphology have been studied using thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, X‐ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The dielectric tunability characteristics have been determined for thin films of composition (Ba1−xSrx)TiO3, x=0.30, to study their suitability for tunable device applications.

A simple inorganic system has been developed for the sol-gel synthesis of piezoelectric PZT-glass nanocomposites. Nanocrystalline PZT are nucleated from the amorphous xerogel through controlled heat treatment at 6001C. The formation of the crystalline phase, particle size, morphology, kinetics, and mechanism of crystallization of PZT in the glass matrix have been studied using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and differential thermal analysis. The piezoelectric characteristics of the PZT-glass compositions have been determined, and are correlated with the microstructure and the crystalline phase of PZT.

Ferroelectric glass-ceramics of composition 0.90 (Ba 0.7 Sr 0.3 ) TiO 3 -0.10(B 2 O 3 :SiO 2 ) (0.90 BST:0.10 BS) synthesized by sol-gel method have been used for the preparation of dielectric thick-film inks. The particle dispersion of the glass-ceramic powders in the thick-film ink formulations have been studied through rheological measurements for fabricating thick-film capacitors by screen printing technique. The thick films derived from such glass-ceramics are found to sinter at considerably lower temperatures than the pure ceramic, and exhibit good dielectric characteristics with a tunability of 32% at 1 MHz under a dc bias field of 35 kV/cm.