Metal oxides attract a lot of interest as promising functional materials for electronics, optics, and spintronics stimulated by the recent discoveries of high Tc superconductivity, UV lasing, and colossal magnetic resistance. Due to the increasing complexity of new materials for advanced technologies, innovation is needed to speed up the process of screening the interplay among the composition, preparation conditions, structure, and properties. A new concept of combinatorial materials science and technology has been emerging for remarkably accelerating the discovery of new materials and devices /1/. Instead of conventional one-by-one approach, combinatorial technology employs methodologies for systematically planned production of a group of thin films at specified areas on a substrate and for their high throughput characterization using rapidly scanning probes or concurrent multi-channel analyses. We have designed and developed the combinatorial laser MBE (CLMBE) system for parallel fabrication of nano-structured thin films and continuous composition spread material chips /2/. Here, we report on the specification of CLMBE systems as well as on their applicability to screening new structures and properties of functional materials with a focus on a discovery of transparent ferromagnetism in transition metal doped oxides.
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