Speaker: Dr. Carlos Gumiel Vindel Vicedecano de Investigación / Vice-Dean for Research Escuela Politécnica Superior Universidad Nebrija.

ABSTRACT
The obtaining of electroceramic oxides in the form of a thin film has aroused high interest in the past recent years since this geometry make them suitable to be integrated in microelectronic devices. There are several techniques for this purpose, from those involving sophisticated equipment which imply a high energy consumption in terms of temperature and pressure (high vacuum), to those involving simple
equipment and a considerable reduction of the mentioned energy consumption. The first set of techniques would be included within the PVD or CVD techniques (for its acronym Physical Vapor Deposition and Chemical Vapor Deposition) and use a gas or plasma phase to transport the precursors to the substrate.
The second set would be included within the CSD (Chemical Solution Deposition) techniques, where a
liquid phase is the responsible for the transport of the precursors to the substrate. These CSD techniques use to be separated in two stages: firstly, the obtaining of the solution (precursor of the thin film) by Sol- Gel and, subsequently, its deposition onto a selected substrate by Deep-Coating, Spray-Coating or Spin- Coating. Despite the reduction of the energy consumption in comparison to the PVD/CVD techniques, organic and toxic solvents are typically used in the obtaining of the precursor solution. In this frame, a novel methodology based in aqueous solutions has recently demonstrated that leads to homogeneous and dense thin films efficiently, so further keeping an eye on the environmentally friendy conditions. However, a final sintering treatment for the crystallization of the film is required on an electric hot plate. In this context, an alternative sintering treatment is currently proposed using solar radiation instead of electrical energy, thus emphasizing in the reduction of the energy consumption and therefore, take care of the sustainability of the whole thin film fabrication process.