The aqueous chemistries of two transition metal cations, Zr⁴⁺ and Nb⁵⁺, are examined and then used to develop inorganic precursor solutions. The oxides of these cations (ZrO₂ and Nb₂O₅) are deposited and characterized, and their morphological and optical properties discussed. Due to the obstacles created by niobium's aqueous chemistry, an...
Transition metal oxides are an important class of materials for the wide variety optical, electrical, dielectric, magnetic, and thermal properties observed. Their unique structure-property relationships allow for property tuning and often provide insight into the fundamentals of chemistry. The work in this thesis was focused on the design, synthesis and...
Synthesis and discovery lies at the core of every field in chemistry. The investigation of the structure-property relationships in compounds known or new is the fundamental purpose of solid state chemistry. Mixing related solid state compounds to form solid solutions can lead to exciting new and/or unexpected properties. Layered compounds...
Several types of solid-state inorganic materials are prepared and characterized. By using the SILAR (Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction) deposition method in conjunction with hydrothermal dehydration both low-temperature deposition and crystallization of oxide thin films are achieved. Various aspects of new transparent p-type materials are studied by examining both...
Oxides of post-transition metals often show unique structures and properties due to the presence of lone pair electrons and the diffused s orbitals. The present work focuses on synthesis and characterizations of oxides containing Te, a heavy post transition metal.
New series of pyrochlore oxides of the formula Cs(M,Te)₂O₆ (M...
The Gd3+ ion has been used to induce quantum splitting in luminescent
materials by using cross-relaxation energy transfer (CRET). In Nd:LiGdF4, quantum
splitting results from a two-step CRET between Gd3+ and Nd3+, first involving a
transition 6G→6I on Gd3+ and an excitation within the 4f3 configuration of Nd3+
followed by...