Lanthanum aluminate is a member of the perovskite class of ceramics that have been demonstrated to superconduct at liquid nitrogen temperatures. The photomicrograph below was produced using a combination of Hoffman modulation contrast and polarized light.

Although not a superconductor itself, lanthanum aluminate is a very good substrate for thin-film growth of related superconducting ceramics using techniques such as laser ablation, Metal Oxide Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD), and Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE). Stair-step twinning, quite evident in this photomicrograph, interferes with the formation of confluent films and researchers are attempting new techniques to grow lanthanum aluminate crystals devoid of this twinning.

BACK TO THE HOFFMAN GALLERY

Questions or comments? Send us an email.

© 1998-2022 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.

This website is maintained by our
Graphics & Web Programming Team
in collaboration with Optical Microscopy at the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

Last modification: Friday, Nov 13, 2015 at 01:19 PM

Access Count Since July 3, 1999: 29752

For more information on microscope manufacturers,
use the buttons below to navigate to their websites: