Acknowledgements

Yihaaaa..after such a long and dark tunnel, it's finally OVER!

Syukur Alhamdullillah..I have passed my viva on 8th May 2007..my examiner said "Now you can carry on with your life" :-) He's absolutely right on this. After years of sacrifice, I'm glad it's finally over...

Thank God for His blessing...for giving me enough strength...

I thank my parents, my brothers and sisters and my relatives for their support throughout my study..

My sincere gratitude to my friends for always being there for me..

Thank you for your endless courage, help, patience and love...



Detail acknowledgments as follows:

This thesis would not be possible without the invaluable support and guidance from various people throughout my academic journey at the University of Auckland. First and foremost, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Wei Gao for his appreciable guidance in both academic affairs and personal matters throughout my study and my stay in New Zealand. I would like to express my hearty appreciation to Dr Alec Asadov for his endless help, guidance and valuable discussion especially in the works related to XRD and structural studies.

Special thanks also go to Dr Zhengwei Li for the valuable discussion and especially in the technical support in magnetron sputtering throughout my study. I also appreciate the technical supports from the people from the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, especially Catherine Hobbis and Steve Strover. I would like to extend my thanks to Dr Adrian Turner and Dr Yulung Chiu for their help on TEM. I acknowledge the fruitful discussion with Dr S. Parnov from the Chemistry Department.

Associate Professor Kazuhiro Kusukawa and Mr Fujiwara from Kochi University of Technology Japan also deserve my sincere gratitude and appreciation for the collaboration in the work related to PZT film by high temperature hydrothermal. It is an honour and a great pleasure to work with them throughout the project.
Special thanks are extended to Professor Ma Jan and Dr Li Tao from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore for the valuable insights and technical support during my visit to the university.

I am grateful to all my colleagues in Professor Wei Gao’s research group, both present and former, for their valuable comments, technical and personal supports. Working beside them has been an honour and a true pleasure.

I acknowledge the financial support from Universiti Sains Malaysia through the Academic Staff Training Scheme Fellowship (ASTF). I would also like to thank the New Zealand government for sponsoring this project through the NERF research grant and the University of Auckland’s Graduate Research Fund for the traveling fund (2005 and 2006).

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof JJJ Chen and W.G. Ferguson, former and current Head of the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Auckland and Professor Ahmed Al-Jumaily, the Director of the Diagnostics Control and Research Control, Auckland University of Technology. I appreciate their help and advices during my early days in New Zealand.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, my father Abdul Razak Lazim, my mother, Sabariah Daud, my brothers and sisters, without whom this thesis would not materialise. I am deeply grateful for their endless love, patience and courage throughout my academic experience in New Zealand. To my friends and relatives, thank you from the bottom of my heart for always being there for me in the ups and downs of my journey. Thank you for being a significant part of my PhD experience and my own personal achievement and development.