The Materials Science of Functional Oxide Thin Films

Research in the area of functional oxides has progressed from study of their basic chemistry and structure to the point at which an enormous range of desirable properties are being explored for potential applications. The primary limitation on exploitation is the difficulty of achieving sufficiently precise control of the properties because of the range of possible defects in such materials and the remarkably strong effect of such defects on the properties. This review outlines the reasons underlying this sensitivity and recent results that demonstrate the levels of control which are now possible.