This thesis experimentally demonstrates the much discussed electronic charge-glass states in solids. It focuses on quasi-two-dimensional organic conductors of the -(BEDT-TTF)2X family, which form anisotropic triangular lattices, and examines their electronic properties using various measurements: resistivity, time-resolved electric transport, X-ray diffraction analysis, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The hallmark of the charge glass caused by geometrical frustration of lattice structure for those materials is successfully observed for the first time. The thesis provides new insights into the exotic properties of matter driven by strong electron correlations and crystalline frustration. The introduction enables beginners to understand fundamentals of the charge-glass states and the organic-conductor family -(BEDT-TTF)2X. The comprehensive and detailed descriptions of the experimental demonstration make this a valuable resource.

This book provides microscopic insights into chemical properties of NO on metal surfaces. NO/metal systems have been studied intensively to understand heterogeneous catalysis to detox exhaust NOx gas. The identification and componential analysis of various and mixed chemical species of NO adsorbed onto the surfaces have been significant challenges faced by conventional experimental techniques, such as vibrational spectroscopies. The author investigated "individual" NO molecules on Cu surfaces using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). STM not only provides information on the geometric, electronic, and vibrational properties at the single-molecule level; it is also able to manipulate molecules on surfaces to induce chemical reaction. Exploiting those techniques, the author chemically identified individual NO-related species on the surfaces and discovered new reaction processes for NO reduction, which provides microscopic insights into the catalytic mechanisms. The author also visualized wave functions of electrons in a valence orbital of NO and demonstrated that the wave functions are modified by the formation of covalent bonding or hydrogen bonding. This is, namely, "the visualization of quantum mechanics in real space," which is certainly worth reading. Furthermore, the book demonstrates that direct observation of valence orbitals helps to elucidate the reactivity of molecules adsorbed onto surfaces. This innovative approach to studying molecular properties will contribute to further development of STM and its related methods.

This work sheds new light on fundamental aspects of phase separation in polymer-blend thin films. A key feature underlying the theoretical models is the unification of one-dimensional thermodynamic phase equilibria with film evolution phenomena in two- and three dimensions. Initially, an established 'phase portrait' method, useful for visualising and calculating phase equilibria of polymer-blend films, is generalised to systems without convenient simplifying symmetries. Thermodynamic equilibria alone are then used to explain a film roughening mechanism in which laterally coexisting phases can have different depths in order to minimise free energy. The phase portraits are then utilised to demonstrate that simulations of lateral phase separation via a transient wetting layer, which conform very well with experiments, can be satisfactorily explained by 1D phase equilibria and a 'surface bifurcation' mechanism. Lastly, a novel 3D model of coupled phase separation and dewetting is developed, which demonstrates that surface roughening shadows phase separation in thin films.

This book introduces a novel Ti-Sb-Te alloy for high-speed and low-power phase-change memory applications, which demonstrates a phase-change mechanism that differs significantly from that of conventional Ge2Sb2Te5 and yields favorable overall performance. Systematic methods, combined with better material characteristics, are used to optimize the material components and device performance. Subsequently, a phase-change memory chip based on the optimized component is successfully fabricated using 40-nm complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology, which offers a number of advantages in many embedded applications.

This book is a passionate account of the scientific breakthroughs that led to the solution of the first protein structures and to the understanding of their function at atomic resolution. The book is divided into self-standing chapters that each deal with a protein or protein family. The subject is presented in a fluid, non-technical style that will engage student and scientists in biochemistry, biophysics, molecular and structure biology and physiology.

This pioneering book presents new models for the thermomechanical behavior of composite materials and structures taking into account internal physico-chemical transformations such as thermodecomposition, sublimation and melting at high temperatures (up to 3000 K). It is of great importance for the design of new thermostable materials and for the investigation of reliability and fire safety of composite structures. It also supports the investigation of interaction of composites with laser irradiation and the design of heat-shield systems. Structural methods are presented for calculating the effective mechanical and thermal properties of matrices, fibres and unidirectional, reinforced by dispersed particles and textile composites, in terms of properties of their constituent phases. Useful calculation methods are developed for characteristics such as the rate of thermomechanical erosion of composites under high-speed flow and the heat deformation of composites with account of chemical shrinkage. The author expansively compares modeling results with experimental data, and readers will find unique experimental results on mechanical and thermal properties of composites under temperatures up to 3000 K. Chapters show how the behavior of composite shells under high temperatures is simulated by the finite-element method and so cylindrical and axisymmetric composite shells and composite plates are investigated under local high-temperature heating. < The book will be of interest to researchers and to engineers designing composite structures, and invaluable to materials scientists developing advanced performance thermostable materials.

The series Advances in Polymer Science presents critical reviews of the present and future trends in polymer and biopolymer science. It covers all areas of research in polymer and biopolymer science including chemistry, physical chemistry, physics, material science. The thematic volumes are addressed to scientists, whether at universities or in industry, who wish to keep abreast of the important advances in the covered topics. Advances in Polymer Science enjoys a longstanding tradition and good reputation in its community. Each volume is dedicated to a current topic, and each review critically surveys one aspect of that topic, to place it within the context of the volume. The volumes typically summarize the significant developments of the last 5 to 10 years and discuss them critically, presenting selected examples, explaining and illustrating the important principles, and bringing together many important references of primary literature. On that basis, future research directions in the area can be discussed. Advances in Polymer Science volumes thus are important references for every polymer scientist, as well as for other scientists interested in polymer science - as an introduction to a neighboring field, or as a compilation of detailed information for the specialist. Review articles for the individual volumes are invited by the volume editors. Single contributions can be specially commissioned. Readership: Polymer scientists, or scientists in related fields interested in polymer and biopolymer science, at universities or in industry, graduate students

This book provides comprehensive coverage of the new wide-bandgap semiconductor gallium oxide (Ga2O3). Ga2O3 has been attracting much attention due to its excellent materials properties. It features an extremely large bandgap of greater than 4.5 eV and availability of large-size, high-quality native substrates produced from melt-grown bulk single crystals. Ga2O3 is thus a rising star among ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductors and represents a key emerging research field for the worldwide semiconductor community. Expert chapters cover physical properties, synthesis, and state-of-the-art applications, including materials properties, growth techniques of melt-grown bulk single crystals and epitaxial thin films, and many types of devices. The book is an essential resource for academic and industry readers who have an interest in, or plan to start, a new R&D project related to Ga2O3.

With this volume, Ezequiel P. M. Leiva and co-authors fill a gap in the available literature, by providing a much-needed, comprehensive review of the relevant literature for electrochemists, materials scientists and energy researchers. For the first time, they present applications of underpotential deposition (UPD) on the nanoscale, such as nanoparticles and nanocavities, as well as for electrocatalysis. They also discuss real surface determinations and layer-by-layer growth of ultrathin films, as well as the very latest modeling approaches to UPD based on nanothermodynamics, statistical mechanics, molecular dynamics and Monte-Carlo simulations.

This book reports on the successful implementation of an innovative, miniaturized galvanic cell that offers unprecedented control over and access to ionic transport. It represents a milestone in fundamental studies on the diffusive transport of lithium ions between two atomically thin layers of carbon (graphene), a highly relevant aspect in electrodes for energy and mass storage in the context of batteries. Further, it is a beautiful example of how interdisciplinary work that combines expertise from two very distinct fields can significantly advance science. Machinery and tools common in the study of low-dimensional systems in condensed matter physics are combined with methods routinely employed in electrochemistry to enable truly unique and powerful experiments. The method developed here can easily be generalized and extended to other layered materials as well as other ionic species. Not only the method but also the outcome of its application to Li diffusion and intercalation in bilayer graphene is remarkable. A record chemical diffusion coefficient is demonstrated, exceeding even the diffusion of sodium chloride in water and surpassing any reported value of ion diffusion in single-phase mixed conducting materials. This finding may be indicative of the exceptional properties yet to be discovered in nanoscale derivatives of bulk insertion compounds.

This book provides a series of concise lectures on the fundamental theories of statistical mechanics, carefully chosen examples and a number of problems with complete solutions.
Modern physics has opened the way for a thorough examination of infra-structure of nature and understanding of the properties of matter from an atomistic point of view. Statistical mechanics is an essential bridge between the laws of nature on a microscopic scale and the macroscopic behaviour of matter. A good training in statistical mechanics thus provides a basis for modern physics and is indispensable to any student in physics, chemistry, biophysics and engineering sciences who wishes to work in these rapidly developing scientific and technological fields.
The collection of examples and problems is comprehensive. The problems are grouped in order of increasing difficulty.

The 3rd edition of this popular textbook covers current topics in all areas of casting solidification. Partial differential equations and numerical analysis are used extensively throughout the text, with numerous calculation examples, to help the reader in achieving a working knowledge of computational solidification modeling. The features of this new edition include: * new chapters on semi-solid and metal matrix composites solidification * a significantly extended treatment of multiscale modeling of solidification and its applications to commercial alloys * a survey of new topics such as solidification of multicomponent alloys and molecular dynamic modeling * new theories, including a theory on oxide bi-films in the treatment of shrinkage problems * an in-depth treatment of the theoretical aspects of the solidification of the most important commercial alloys including steel, cast iron, aluminum-silicon eutectics, and superalloys * updated tables of material constants.

This work takes advantage of high-resolution silicon stencil masks to build air-stable complementary OTFTs using a low-temperature fabrication process. Plastic electronics based on organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) pave the way for cheap, flexible and large-area products. Over the past few years, OTFTs have undergone remarkable advances in terms of reliability, performance and scale of integration. Many factors contribute to the allure of this technology; the masks exhibit excellent stiffness and stability, thus allowing OTFTs with submicrometer channel lengths and superb device uniformity to be patterned. Furthermore, the OTFTs employ an ultra-thin gate dielectric that provides a sufficiently high capacitance to enable the transistors to operate at voltages as low as 3 V. The critical challenges in this development are the subtle mechanisms that govern the properties of aggressively scaled OTFTs. These mechanisms, dictated by device physics, are well described and implemented into circuit-design tools to ensure adequate simulation accuracy.

Theoretical understanding of electronic properties of metallic alloys is of great importance from both fundamental and technological points of view. This text gives a brief account of the crystal structure of both the pure metals and metals with impurities. Physical effects produced by impurities in metals are described, as is the electronic structure of pure simple and transition metals with special reference to rare-earth metals.

Advances in Superalloys and High Temperature Intermetallics (J.K. Tien et al.). Influence of the Superplastic Metals on the Future of the Metal Forming Industry (G. Torres-Villasenor). Advanced Aerospace Materials (F.H. Froes et al.). Microalloyed Steels (L. Martinez). Future Ferrous Technologies (H.W. Paxton). Advanced High Temperature Corrosion Sciences (N. Birks et al.). Engineering Materials (V.M. Castano et al.). Advanced Textile Structural Composites (F.K. Ko). Cracking and Fatigue in FiberReinforced Metal and Ceramic Matrix Composites (A.G. Evans, F.W. Zok). Metallurgy of Permanent Magnet Alloys (L. Rabenberg). Electron Tunneling in Superconductors Ba-K-Bi-O (R. Escudero). Vapor Deposition Processing (S. Purushothaman et al.). Thin Films for Photovoltaic Applications (R. Asomoza et al.). Optical Properties of New Materials (R.G. Barrera). 6 additional articles. Index.

This interdisciplinary work on condensed matter physics, the continuum mechanics of novel materials, and partial differential equations, discusses the mathematical theory of elasticity and hydrodynamics of quasicrystals, as well as its applications. By establishing new partial differential equations of higher order and their solutions under complicated boundary value and initial value conditions, the theories developed here dramatically simplify the solution of complex elasticity problems. Comprehensive and detailed mathematical derivations guide readers through the work. By combining theoretical analysis and experimental data, mathematical studies and practical applications, readers will gain a systematic, comprehensive and in-depth understanding of condensed matter physics, new continuum mechanics and applied mathematics. This new edition covers the latest developments in quasicrystal studies. In particular, it pays special attention to the hydrodynamics, soft-matter quasicrystals, and the Poisson bracket method and its application in deriving hydrodynamic equations. These new sections make the book an even more useful and comprehensive reference guide for researchers working in Condensed Matter Physics, Chemistry and Materials Science.

This work revolves around the hydrogen economy and energy-storage electrochemical systems. More specifically, it investigates the possibility of using magnetron sputtering for deposition of efficient thin-film anode catalysts with low noble metal content for proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEM-WEs) and unitized regenerative fuel cells (PEM-URFCs). The motivation for this research derives from the urgent need to minimize the price of such electrochemical devices should they enter the mass production. Numerous experiments were carried out, correlating the actual in-cell performance with the varying position of thin-film catalyst within the membrane electrode assembly, with the composition of high-surface support sublayer and with the chemical structure of the catalyst itself. The wide arsenal of analytical methods ranging from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy through electrochemical atomic force microscopy to photoelectron spectroscopy allowed the description of the complex phenomena behind different obtained efficiencies. Systematic optimizations led to the design of a novel PEM-WE anode thin-film iridium catalyst which performs similarly to the standard counterparts despite using just a fraction of their noble metal content. Moreover, the layer-by-layer approach resulted in the design of a Ir/TiC/Pt bi-functional anode for PEM-URFC which is able to operate in both the fuel cell and electrolyzer regime and thus helps to cut the cost of the whole conversion system even further.

This volume summarises recent developments and possible future directions for small molecule X-ray crystallography. It reviews specific areas of crystallography which are rapidly developing and places them in a historical context. The interdisciplinary nature of the technique is emphasised throughout. It introduces and describes the chemical crystallographic and synchrotron facilities which have been at the cutting edge of the subject in recent decades. The introduction of new computer-based algorithms has proved to be very influential and stimulated and accelerated the growth of new areas of science. The challenges which will arise from the acquisition of ever larger databases are considered and the potential impact of artificial intelligence techniques stressed. Recent advances in the refinement and analysis of X-ray crystal structures are highlighted. In addition the recent developments in time resolved single crystal X-ray crystallography are discussed. Recent years have demonstrated how this technique has provided important mechanistic information on solid-state reactions and complements information from traditional spectroscopic measurements. The volume highlights how the prospect of being able to routinely "watch" chemical processes as they occur provides an exciting possibility for the future. Recent advances in X-ray sources and detectors that have also contributed to the possibility of dynamic single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods are presented. The coupling of crystallography and quantum chemical calculations provides detailed information about electron distributions in crystals and has resulted in a more detailed understanding of chemical bonding. The volume will be of interest to chemists and crystallographers with an interest in the synthesis, characterisation and physical and catalytic properties of solid-state materials. Postgraduate students entering the field will benefit from a historical introduction to the subject and a description of those techniques which are currently used. Since X-ray crystallography is used so widely in modern chemistry it will serve to alert senior chemists to those developments which will become routine in coming decades. It will also be of interest to the broad community of computational chemists who study chemical systems.

From fabrication to testing and modeling this monograph covers all aspects on the materials class of magneto active polymers. The focus is on computational modeling of manufacturing processes and material parameters. As other smart materials, these elastomers have the ability to change electrical and mechanical properties upon application of magnetic fields. This allows for novel applications ranging from biomedical engineering to mechatronics.

The series Topics in Current Chemistry presents critical reviews of the present and future trends in modern chemical research. The scope of coverage is all areas of chemical science including the interfaces with related disciplines such as biology, medicine and materials science. The goal of each thematic volume is to give the non-specialist reader, whether in academia or industry, a comprehensive insight into an area where new research is emerging which is of interest to a larger scientific audience. Each review within the volume critically surveys one aspect of that topic and places it within the context of the volume as a whole. The most significant developments of the last 5 to 10 years are presented using selected examples to illustrate the principles discussed. The coverage is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of the field or include large quantities of data, but should rather be conceptual, concentrating on the methodological thinking that will allow the non-specialist reader to understand the information presented. Contributions also offer an outlook on potential future developments in the field.

One possible method of producing high-quality graphene is to grow it epitaxially; this thesis investigates the mechanisms involved in doing so. It describes how the initial stages of growth on the Ir(111) surface are modelled using both rate equations and kinetic Monte Carlo, based upon nudged elastic band (NEB) calculated reaction energy barriers. The results show that the decomposition mechanism involves production of C monomers by breaking the C-C bond. In turn, the thesis explores the nucleation of carbon clusters on the surface from C monomers prior to graphene formation. Small arch-shaped clusters containing four to six C atoms, which may be key in graphene formation, are predicted to be long-lived on the surface. In closing, the healing of single vacancy defects in the graphene/Ir(111) surface is investigated, and attempts to heal said defects using ethylene molecules is simulated with molecular dynamics and NEB calculated energy barriers.

This book is an introduction to a rapidly developing field of modern theoretical physics - the theory of quantum transport at nanoscale. The theoretical methods considered in the book are in the basis of our understanding of charge, spin and heat transport in nanostructures and nanostructured materials and are widely used in nanoelectronics, molecular electronics, spin-dependent electronics (spintronics) and bio-electronics. The book is based on lectures for graduate and post-graduate students at the University of Regensburg and the Technische Universitat Dresden (TU Dresden). The first part is devoted to the basic concepts of quantum transport: Landauer-Buttiker method and matrix Green function formalism for coherent transport, Tunneling (Transfer) Hamiltonian and master equation methods for tunneling, Coulomb blockade, vibrons and polarons. The results in this part are obtained as possible without sophisticated techniques, such as nonequilibrium Green functions, which are considered in detail in the second part. A general introduction into the nonequilibrium Green function theory is given. The approach based on the equation-of-motion technique, as well as more sophisticated one based on the Dyson-Keldysh diagrammatic technique are presented. The main attention is paid to the theoretical methods able to describe the nonequilibrium (at finite voltage) electron transport through interacting nanosystems, specifically the correlation effects due to electron-electron and electron-vibron interactions.

This book deals mainly with physical device models which are developed from the carrier transport physics and device geometry considerations. The text concentrates on silicon and gallium arsenide devices and includes models of silicon bipolar junction transistors, junction field effect transistors (JFETs), MESFETs, silicon and GaAs MESFETs, transferred electron devices, pn junction diodes and Schottky varactor diodes. The modelling techniques of more recent devices such as the heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT) and the high electron mobility transistors are discussed. This book contains details of models for both equilibrium and non-equilibrium transport conditions. The modelling Technique of Small-scale devices is discussed and techniques applicable to submicron-dimensioned devices are included. A section on modern quantum transport analysis techniques is included. Details of essential numerical schemes are given and a variety of device models are used to illustrate the application of these techniques in various fields.

This thesis develops a nested sampling algorithm into a black box tool for directly calculating the partition function, and thus the complete phase diagram of a material, from the interatomic potential energy function. It represents a significant step forward in our ability to accurately describe the finite temperature properties of materials. In principle, the macroscopic phases of matter are related to the microscopic interactions of atoms by statistical mechanics and the partition function. In practice, direct calculation of the partition function has proved infeasible for realistic models of atomic interactions, even with modern atomistic simulation methods. The thesis also shows how the output of nested sampling calculations can be processed to calculate the complete PVT (pressure-volume-temperature) equation of state for a material, and applies the nested sampling algorithm to calculate the pressure-temperature phase diagrams of aluminium and a model binary alloy.