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Our understanding and control of epitaxial oxide heterostructures has progressed along multiple frontiers including magnetic, dielectric, ferroelectric, and superconducting oxide materials. This has resulted in both independent rediscovery and the successful borrowing of ideas from ceramic science, solid-state physics, and semiconductor epitaxy. A new field of materials science has emerged which aims at the use of the intrinsic properties of various oxide materials in single-crystal thin-film form. Exploiting the potential of these materials, however, will only be possible if many fundamental and engineering questions can be answered. This book represents continued progress toward fulfilling that promise. Technical information on epitaxial oxide thin films from industry, academia and government laboratories is presented. Topics include: dielectrics; ferroelectrics; optics; superconductors; magnetics; magnetoresistance.

As a result of the progress towards, and potential realized in electronic and optical device applications, the interest in epitaxial oxide thin films continue to flourish. The understanding of epitaxial oxide heterostructures has progressed, including magnetic, magnetoresistive, dielectric, ferroelectric and superconducting oxide materials. This book focuses on the fundamental issues of oxide epitaxy, microstructural evolution in epitaxy, and physical properties of epitaxial oxide thin films and how these issues relate to device applications. The book provides a vehicle through which groups of scientists working on a set of diverse phenomena could interact and present findings on very common specific themes involving similar materials. Due to the explosive growth of work in the area of colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) materials, especially in epitaxial form, the book also offers a forum to critically examine the fundamental nature of CMR in epitaxial oxide thin films and the relationship between CMR and defect structure. Other areas of emphasis include: ferroelectric memories, nonlinear optical waveguides, microwave electronics and magnetic oxide thin films.

The past five years have witnessed some dramatic developments in the general area of ferroelectric thin films materials and devices. Ferroelectrics are not new materials by any stretch ofimagination. Indeed, they have been known since the early partofthis century and popular ferroelectric materials such as Barium Titanate have been in use since the second world war. In the late sixties and seventies, a considerable amountofresearch and development effort was made to create a solid state nonvolatile memory using ferroelectrics in a vary simple matrix-addressed scheme. These attempts failed primarily due to problems associated with either the materials ordue to device architectures. The early eighties saw the advent of new materials processing approaches, such as sol-gel processing, that enabled researchers to fabricate sub-micron thin films of ferroelectric materials on a silicon substrate. These pioneering developments signaled the onsetofa revival in the areaofferroelectric thin films, especially ferroelectric nonvolatile memories. Research and development effort in ferroelectric materials and devices has now hit a feverish pitch, Many university laboratories, national laboratories and advanced R&D laboratories oflarge IC manufacturers are deeply involved in the pursuit of ferroelectric device technologies. Many companies worldwide are investing considerable manpower and resources into ferroelectric technologies. Some have already announced products ranging from embedded memories in micro controllers, low density stand-alone memories, microwave circuit elements, andrf identification tags. There is now considerable optimism that ferroelectric devices andproducts will occupy a significant market-share in the new millennium.