Research Director: Dr. Tsuyoshi Masumoto
(Professor, The Research Institute for Iron, Steel and Other Metals, Tohoku University)
Research Term 1981-1986

The aim of this project was to synthesize unique, inorganic, non-equilibrium structures/materials for industrial use by drastically changing the composition, atomic configuration and electronic structures of various kinds of materials.

Research Results

Amorphous metallic fine particles: Amorphous fine particles 800 – 1200 diameter could be formed on substrates by sputter-depositing various metals and metal-oxides after ionized-argon gas etching of the substrate. These particles simultaneously display the characteristics of both amorphous materials and fine particles.

Amorphous ferromagnetic thin film: A transparent, perpendicularly magnetized ferromagnetic thin film has been produced by sputtering in the presence of fluorine. Also, a fluoride thin film with nickel and cobalt has been found to be an excellent alloy with transparent and anti-corrosion characteristics.

Ferromagnetic amorphous oxide: An amorphous ferromagnetic oxide has been made by rapid-quenching or by the sputtering method after adding various oxides to antiferromagnetic FeBiO₃. This material has good transparency and magneto-optical properties as well as anti-corrosion characteristics

Water-soluable amorphous oxides: A new colloidal oxide thin film has been synthesized by rapidly quenching V₂O₅ based on binary amorphous oxides.

Crystalline BN and BN based composite ceramic: High crystalline rhombohedral BN, hexagonal based ceramic and B-N-Ti/B-N-Si based nano-compound ceramic materials have been synthesized by a CVD method at comparatively low temperatures, having excellent heat resistivity, stability and electric insulation characteristics.

Transparent B-N-Si base amorphous ceramics: Amorphous BN base ceramics containing 20-30 wt% silicon were synthesized by CVD. The addition of silicon improved the moisture resistibility. Being transparent, these materials have applications as heat-resistant and anti-corrosive optical materials and coating materials.

Bi-directional optical memory: Tris (1, 10-phenarthoroline) Rhodium (III) complex ions were intercalated into the interlayer space of montmorillonite, creating a material that allows optical writing and erasing. A very thin film of less than one micron has good contrast and stability for long time periods.

Iron oxide based perpendicularly magnetized thin film: An iron-oxide base (Fe-B-O, Fe-M-O) thin film has been produced by the sputtering method. The thin film is abrasion resistant with anti-corrosion characteristics and is applicable as a material for both floppy and hard discs.

Fig 1: Ferromagnetic oxide glass

Fig 2: Optical memory

Fig 3: Amorphous fine particles