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A study of titanium nitride (TiN) films microstructural and mechanical properties at nanoscale using resonance tracking acoustic force atomic microscopy is presented. Also for this study, the work function (Φ e ) measured for Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy of TiN films deposited by pulsed dc magnetron sputtering is analysed. The films were deposited on Si and glass substrates using a gas mixture ratio Ar-N 2 10 and 12% of N 2 and power density from 7.4 to 10.8 W cm −2 using the Pulsed DC Magnetron Sputtering. Mechanical properties at nanoscale are measured and a relation between microstructure and nanoscale elastic domains is seen. It was found that the hardness increases when the Φ e increases. This directly proportional relationship between hardness and work function, for the first time observed and reported in this contribution, is more accurate and shows a stronger dependence than the relation between hardness and microstructural properties independently.

Lu2O3:Eu3+ transparent, high density, and optical quality thin films were prepared using the sol-gel dip-coating technique, starting with lutetium and europium nitrates as precursors and followed by hydrolysis in an ethanol-ethylene glycol solution. Acetic acid and acetylacetonate were incorporated in order to adjust pH and as a sol stabilizer. In order to increment the thickness of the films and orient the structure, F127 Pluronic acid was incorporated during the sol formation. Structural, morphological, and optical properties of the films were investigated for different F127/Lu molar ratios (0–5) in order to obtain high optical quality films with enhanced thickness compared with the traditional method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that the films present a highly oriented cubic structure <111> beyond 1073 K for a 3-layer film, on silica glass substrates. The thickness, density, porosity, and refractive index evolution of the films were investigated by means of m-lines microscopy along with the morphology by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and luminescent properties.

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