An image acquisition semiconductor film for a high-resolution mass spectrometric imaging system, and a preparation method and an application. The image acquisition semiconductor film for the high-resolution mass spectrometric imaging system is prepared by using the following method: weighing semiconductor nanometer particles, putting the semiconductor nanometer particles into a muffle furnace for burning first, further grinding by using an agate mortar, and uniformly dispersing the semiconductor nanometer particles so as to obtain semiconductor nanometer powder; and finally, pressing the semiconductor nanometer powder in a compressor so as to obtain the semiconductor film. Based on laser activated electron tunnelling as well as photoelectron capture ionization and dissociation, sample molecules are ionized without background interference; the limitation of a conventional MALDI substrate is overcome; the semiconductor film is simple and easy to obtain, is stable in mass spectrometric signal, has a uniform and smooth surface, generates no background interference, and can be used for fingerprint analyzing and animal and plant tissue slice analysis; and the semiconductor film is particularly suitable for accurate mass spectrometric imaging of small molecular substances, so that quality control and industrialization can be performed conveniently.

A process of forming a sintered article includes heating a green portion of a tape of polycrystalline ceramic and/or minerals in organic binder at a binder removal zone to a temperature sufficient to pyrolyze the binder; horizontally conveying the portion of tape with organic binder removed from the binder removal zone to a sintering zone; and sintering polycrystalline ceramic and/or minerals of the portion of tape at the sintering zone, wherein the tape simultaneously extends through the removal and sintering zones.

A metal oxide thin film formed of β-MoO.sub.3 includes at least one doping element of the group Re, Mn, and Ru. Further, there is described a method of producing such a metal oxide thin film via sputtering and a thin film device with a metal oxide thin film of β-MoO.sub.3 that includes at least one doping element selected from the group Re, Mn, and Ru.

An oxide superconductor includes: REBa.sub.2Cu.sub.3O.sub.7-x (RE being one element selected from a “RE element group” of Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Y, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu). The RE includes at least three, types of metallic elements (M1, M2, and M3), and the three types of metallic elements are any element of the RE element group selected in order. In an oxide system satisfying R(1)≦20 mol % and R(M2)≧60 mol % and R(M3)≦20 mol %, R(M1) being an average metallic element ratio of M1 in M1+M2+M3, SD(Ms)>0.15 is satisfied at a position at 50% of an average film thickness of a cross section including the c-axis, Ms being the metallic element of not larger of R(M1) and R(M3), SD(Ms) being a standard deviation/average value of a concentration of Ms.

A piezoelectric material contains: a first component which is a rhombohedral crystal in a single composition, has a Curie temperature Tc1, and is a lead-free-system composite oxide having a perovskite-type structure; a second component which is a crystal other than a rhombohedral crystal in a single composition, has a Curie temperature Tc2 higher than Tc1, and is a lead-free-system composite oxide having a perovskite-type structure; and a third component which is a rhombohedral crystal in a single composition, has a Curie temperature Tc3 equal to or higher than Tc2, and is a lead-free-system composite oxide that has a perovskite-type structure and is different from the first component. When a molar ratio of the third component to the sum of the first component and the third component is α and α×Tc3+(1−α)×Tc1 is Tc4, |Tc4−Tc2| is 50° C. or lower.

An oxide superconductor has a composition expressed by RE.sub.aBa.sub.bCu.sub.3O.sub.7-x, where RE represents one rare earth or a combination of two or more of a rare earth, a satisfies 1.05≦a≦1.35, b satisfies 1.80≦b≦2.05, and x represents an amount of oxygen deficiency, and a non-superconducting phase having an outer diameter of 30 nm or less is included in a superconducting phase.

A dielectric film containing an alkaline earth metal oxide having a NaCl type crystal structure as a main component, wherein the dielectric film has a (111)-oriented columnar structure in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the dielectric film, and in a Cu—Kα X-ray diffraction chart of the dielectric film, a half width of the diffraction peak of (111) is in a range of from 0.3° to 2.0°.

The invention discloses micron-nano pore gradient oxide ceramic films with biological activity, which are prepared by the following methods: The surface structures are biomedical engineering materials; Inorganic precursor coating solutions or the organic precursor coating solutions are prepared with or without micron and nanopore additives; The surface structures of the substrate are treated in the following steps: (1) The surfaces of the substrate are coated by the inorganic precursor coating solutions or the organic precursor coating solutions with or without micron and nanopore additives; (2) The substrate with coatings are dried, sintered, naturally cooled, and cleaned. (3) The biomedical engineering materials with the micron-nanopore gradient oxide ceramic films, especially biomimetic micro-nanoporous gradient alumina film, yttrium partially stabilized zirconia film, and alumina doped yttrium partially stabilized zirconia films in this invention greatly improve biocompatibility and biological activity.

The present disclosure relates to a precursor solution for the preparation of a ceramic of the BZT-αBXT type, where X is selected from Ca, Sn, Mn, and Nb, and α is a molar fraction selected in the range between 0.10 and 0.90, said solution comprising: 1) at least one barium precursor compound; 2) a precursor compound selected from the group consisting of at least one calcium compound, at least one tin compound, at least one manganese compound, and at least one niobium compound; 3) at least one anhydrous precursor compound of zirconium; 4) at least one anhydrous precursor compound of titanium; 5) a solvent selected from the group consisting of a polyol and mixtures of a polyol and a secondary solvent selected from the group consisting of alcohols, carboxylic acids, ketones, and mixtures thereof; and 6) a chelating agent, as well as method of using the same.

A transparent optical element may include a layer of an electroactive ceramic disposed between transparent electrodes, such that the electrodes are each oriented perpendicular to a non-polar direction of the ceramic layer. Optical properties of the optical element, including transmissivity, haze, and clarity may be improved by the application of a voltage to the electroactive ceramic, and an associated phase transformation.