Raman scattering is now being applied with increasing success to a wide range of practical problems at the cutting edge of materials science. The purpose of this book is to make Raman spectroscopy understandable to the non-specialist and thus to bring it into the mainstream of routine materials characterization. The book is pedagogical in approach and focuses on technologically important condensed-matter systems in which the specific use of Raman spectroscopy yields new and useful information. Included are chapters on instrumentation, bulk semiconductors and alloys, heterostructures, high-Tc superconductors, catalysts, carbon-based materials, wide-gap and super-hard materials, and polymers.

This book presents the general concepts of self-organized spatio-temporal ordering processes. These concepts are demonstrated via prototypical examples of recent advances in materials science. Particular emphasis is on nano scale soft matter in physics, chemistry, biology and biomedicine. The questions addressed embrace a broad spectrum of complex nonlinear phenomena, ranging from self-assembling near the thermodynamical equilibrium to dissipative structure formation far from equilibrium. Their mutual interplay gives rise to increasing degrees of hierarchical order. Analogues are pointed out, differences characterized and efforts are made to reveal common features in the mechanistic description of those phenomena.

Growth of Crystals, Volume 21 presents a survey, with detailed analysis, of the scientific and technological approaches, and results obtained, by leading Russian crystal growth specialists from the late 1990's to date.

The volume contains 16 reviewed chapters on various aspects of crystal and crystalline film growth from various phases (vapour, solution, liquid and solid). Both fundamental aspects, e.g. growth kinetics and mechanisms, and applied aspects, e.g. preparation of technically important materials in single-crystalline forms, are covered.

A large portion of the volume is devoted to film growth, including film growth from eutectic melt, from amorphous solid state, kinetics of lateral epitaxy and film growth on specially structured substrates. An important chapter in this section covers heteroepitaxy of non-isovalent A3B5 semiconductor compounds, which have important applications in the field of photonics.

The volume also includes a detailed analysis of the structural aspects of a broad range of laser crystals, information that is invaluable for successfully growing perfect, laser-effective, single crystals.

This monograph deals with ion-induced electron emission from crystalline solids bombarded by fast ions. During the past decade, electron spectroscopy combined with the ion channeling technique has revealed various "messages" about ion-solid and electron-solid interactions that are carried by the emitted electrons. In addition, the book describes the underlying physics and experimental techniques. It will provide useful information for students and scientists working in ion-beam-based research and development in various areas of atomic and solid-state physics, materials science, and surface science.

The characteristics of electrical contacts have long attracted the attention of researchers since these contacts are used in every electrical and electronic device. Earlier studies generally considered electrical contacts of large dimensions, having regions of current concentration with diameters substantially larger than the characteristic dimensions of the material: the interatomic distance, the mean free path for electrons, the coherence length in the superconducting state, etc. [110]. The development of microelectronics presented to scientists and engineers the task of studying the characteristics of electrical contacts with ultra-small dimensions. Characteristics of point contacts such as mechanical stability under continuous current loads, the magnitudes of electrical fluctuations, inherent sensitivity in radio devices and nonlinear characteristics in connection with electromagnetic radiation can not be understood and altered in the required way without knowledge of the physical processes occurring in contacts. Until recently it was thought that the electrical conductivity of contacts with direct conductance (without tunneling or semiconducting barriers) obeyed Ohm's law. Nonlinearities of the current-voltage characteristics were explained by joule heating of the metal in the region of the contact. However, studies of the current-voltage characteristics of metallic point contacts at low (liquid helium) temperatures [142] showed that heating effects were negligible in many cases and the nonlinear characteristics under these conditions were observed to take the form of the energy dependent probability of inelastic electron scattering, induced by various mechanisms.

During the last decade we have been witness to several exciting achievements in electron crystallography. This includes structural and charge density studies on organic molecules complicated inorganic and metallic materials in the amorphous, nano-, meso- and quasi-crystalline state and also development of new software, tailor-made for the special needs of electron crystallography. Moreover, these developments have been accompanied by a now available new generation of computer controlled electron microscopes equipped with high-coherent field-emission sources, cryo-specimen holders, ultra-fast CCD cameras, imaging plates, energy filters and even correctors for electron optical distortions. Thus, a fast and semi-automatic data acquisition from small sample areas, similar to what we today know from imaging plates diffraction systems in X-ray crystallography, can be envisioned for the very near future. This progress clearly shows that the contribution of electron crystallography is quite unique, as it enables to reveal the intimate structure of samples with high accuracy but on much smaller samples than have ever been investigated by X-ray diffraction. As a tribute to these tremendous recent achievements, this NATO Advanced Study Institute was devoted to the novel approaches of electron crystallography for structure determination of nanosized materials.

It used to be difficult to reliably fabricate clean heterostructures using magnetic and superconducting layers. Today this is no longer the case; such reproducible superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures enable the quantitative study of the rich and varied phenomena associated with ferromagnet/superconductor proximity effects. These structures are eminent, suitable candidates for many switching devices, ranging from non-volatile low power memory elements to quantum computing applications involving Josephson junctions.This book's main purpose is to explain how the equilibrium and transport properties of these heterostructures can be accurately calculated starting from a standard BCS type Hamiltonian. The main techniques, including both analytical and numerical methods, are discussed in detail. Results obtained from these calculations are shown to be in excellent quantitative agreement with experiment.This is a theory book, but the theory is neither abstruse nor esoteric. Knowledge of only introductory graduate physics has been assumed; a solid undergraduate training and a bit of perseverance would also be enough. This book can easily be read and understood by experimentalists, and just about anybody can grasp the basics by referring to the figures and explanations. Quite apart from the manifold applications of superconductor/ferromagnet nanostructures, studying them provides us with considerable insights into fundamental physics and the general study of hybrid nanomaterials.

This Thesis in biological physics has two components, describing the use of X-ray scattering techniques to study the structure of two different stacked lipid membrane systems. The first part focuses on the interaction between a short 11-mer peptide, Tat, which is part of the Tat protein in the HIV-1 virus. Although highly positively charged, the Tat protein has been shown to translocate through hydrocarbon lipid bilayers easily, without requiring the cell's energy, which is counter to its Born self-energy. In this work Tat's location in the headgroup region was demonstrated using a combined X-ray scattering and molecular dynamics approach. Bilayer thinning was observed as well as softening of different membrane mimics due to Tat. It was concluded that Tat's headgroup location, which increases the area/lipid, and its bilayer softening likely reduce the energy barrier for passive translocation. The second part is a rigorous investigation of an enigmatic phase in the phase diagram of the lipid dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC). The ripple phase has fascinated many researchers in condensed matter physics and physical chemistry as an example of periodically modulated phases, with many theoretical and simulation papers published. Despite systematic studies over the past three decades, molecular details of the structure were still lacking. By obtaining the highest resolution X-ray data so far, this work revealed the complex nature of the chain packing, as well as confirming that the major side is thicker than the minor side of the saw-tooth ripple structure. The new model shows that the chains in the major arm are tilted with respect to the bilayer normal and that the chains in the minor arm are slightly more disordered than all-trans gel-phase chains, i.e., the chains in the minor arm are more fluid-like. This work provides the highest resolution X-ray structure of the ripple phase to-date.

This book introduces acoustic wave theories using a reader-friendly matrix-based linear algebra approach. It will enable the reader to take advantage of software tools such as MATLAB (commercial codes) and OCTAVE (open-source codes) to gain better and deeper understanding of the underlying physics quickly. In this aspect, this text can be regarded as a practical introduction of the acoustic wave theories in an easy-to-follow linear algebra format using matrix manipulations instead of an abstract approach relying on tensor manipulations. The book also uses case studies to demonstrate how the fundamentals on acoustic waves discussed throughout the book are applied in device designs and analyses such that the connections and interdependences between the underlying sciences and the observed behavior and performances can be better appreciated by the reader. To achieve this, all problems for illustrations, examples, case studies, and device analyses are developed and solved based on the mathematical foundations laid out in the book.

Studies on the electronic properties of conjugated polymers and low molecular weight organic solids have been of increasing interest in recent years. This book is organized into two parts dedicated to these two classes of materials. For each part a general introductory review provides background knowledge of the language and of the main points required for understanding the book's contents. The reviews that follow provide a more complete understanding of the underlying physics of the materials through discussion of the interconnected topics. Theoretical concepts, models and methods are overviewed; this is used to support the explanation of the physical and chemical properties of these materials. The presentation of selected aspects of experimental research greatly contributes to the basic understanding of organic electronic materials.

The essence of this book can be found in a line written by the ancient Roman Stoic Philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca: "Fortune is of sluggish growth, but ruin is rapid". This sentence summarizes the features of the phenomenon that we call "collapse," which is typically sudden and often unexpected, like the proverbial "house of cards." But why are such collapses so common, and what generates them? Several books have been published on the subject, including the well known "Collapse" by Jared Diamond (2005), "The collapse of complex societies" by Joseph Tainter (1998) and "The Tipping Point," by Malcom Gladwell (2000). Why The Seneca Effect? This book is an ambitious attempt to pull these various strands together by describing collapse from a multi-disciplinary viewpoint. The reader will discover how collapse is a collective phenomenon that occurs in what we call today "complex systems," with a special emphasis on system dynamics and the concept of "feedback." From this foundation, Bardi applies the theory to real-world systems, from the mechanics of fracture and the collapse of large structures to financial collapses, famines and population collapses, the fall of entire civilzations, and the most dreadful collapse we can imagine: that of the planetary ecosystem generated by overexploitation and climate change. The final objective of the book is to describe a conclusion that the ancient stoic philosophers had already discovered long ago, but that modern system science has rediscovered today. If you want to avoid collapse you need to embrace change, not fight it. Neither a book about doom and gloom nor a cornucopianist's dream, The Seneca Effect goes to the heart of the challenges that we are facing today, helping us to manage our future rather than be managed by it.

Provides a practical, experimentally-driven introduction to the materials science of surfaces and thin films Connects the essential concepts with the variables controlled in a laboratory setting, to aid in understanding experimental design and results Takes a visual approach with many illustrations of experimental deposition and characterization techniques to highlight what happens at the atomic level on surfaces and thin films Includes worked examples and problems at the end of each chapter Gives conceptually clear, mathematically simple explanations

This volume represents the written account of the NATO Advanced Study Institute "Lower-Dimensional Systems and Molecular Electronics" held at Hotel Spetses, Spetses Island, Greece from 12 June to 23 June 1989. The goal of the Institute was to demonstrate the breadth of chemical and physical knowledge that has been acquired in the last 20 years in inorganic and organic crystals, polymers, and thin films, which exhibit phenomena of reduced dimensionality. The interest in these systems started in the late 1960's with lower-dimensional inorganic conductors, in the early 1970's with quasi-one-dimensional crystalline organic conductors. which by 1979 led to the first organic superconductors, and, in 1977, to the fITSt conducting polymers. The study of monolayer films (Langmuir-Blodgett films) had progressed since the 1930's, but reached a great upsurge in . the early 1980's. The pursuit of non-linear optical phenomena became increasingly popular in the early 1980's, as the attention turned from inorganic crystals to organic films and polymers. And in the last few years the term "moleculw' electronics" has gained ever-increasing acceptance, although it is used in several contexts. We now have organic superconductors with critical temperatures in excess of 10 K, conducting polymers that are soluble and processable, and used commercially; we have films of a few monolayers that have high in-plane electrical conductivity, and polymers that show great promise in photonics; we even have a few devices that function almost at the molecular level.

This book deals with the application of giant magneto-resistance (GMR) effects to electronic devices. It will appeal to engineers and graduate students in the fields of electronic devices and materials. The main subjects are magnetic sensors with high resolution and magnetic read heads with high sensitivity, required for hard-disk drives with recording densities of several gigabytes. Another important subject is novel magnetic random-access memories (MRAM) with non-volatile non-destructive and radiation-resistant characteristics. Other topics include future GMR devices based on bipolar spin transistors, spin field-effect transistors (FETs) and double-tunnel junctions.

The Theory of High-Tc Superconductivity (P.W. Anderson). Holes in the Quantum Antiferromagner (A. Auerbach, B.E. Larson). Slave Boson Approach to the One Dimensional tJ Model (T.K. Lee, Z. Wang). Universality of Behavior of Electrons on a Ring (F.V. Kusmartsev). Vector Mean Field Theory of Statistics (M.D. Johnson et al.). Superconducting and Magnetic Phase Boundaries in Doped Cu-Based Superconducting Oxides (Y. Gao et al.). Infrared Properties (Z. Schlesinger et al.). On Transport Properties of HTSC Oxides (M. Affronte, D. Pavuna). A Unified Approach to a Description of the Cuprate Superconductors (V.Z. Kresin et al.). ElectronHole Asymmetry (J.E. Hirsch). Properties and Superconductivity of Large Bipolarons (D. Emin). Topological Effects in Disordered Phase of Two-Dimensional Magnet (A.M. Tsvelik, M. Yu. Reizer). Current Status of Fermi Liquid Based Approaches to the Cuprates (K. Levin et al.). 55 additional articles. Index.

Based on courses given at the Ecole Polytechnique in France, this book covers not only the fundamental physics of semiconductors, but also discusses the operation of electronic and optical devices based on semiconductors. It is aimed at students with a good background in mathematics and physics, and is equally suited for graduate-level courses in condensed-matter physics as for self-study by engineers interested in a basic understanding of semiconductor devices.

This thesis describes the fabrication of metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structures using very high permittivity dielectrics (based on rare earths) grown by high-pressure sputtering from metallic targets. It demonstrates the possibility of depositing high permittivity materials (GdScO3) by means of high pressure sputtering from metallic targets using in situ plasma oxidation on Si and indium phosphate (InP) substrates. The advantage of this system is the high working pressure, which causes the particles to undergo multiple collisions and become thermalized before reaching the substrate in a pure diffusion process, thus protecting the semiconductor surface from damage. This work presents a unique fabrication using metallic targets and involving a two-step deposition process: a thin metallic film is sputtered in an Ar atmosphere and this film is then plasma oxidized in situ. It also demonstrates the fabrication of GdScO3 on Si with a permittivity value above 30 from metallic Gd and Sc targets. Since co-sputtering was not possible, a nanolaminate of these materials was deposited and annealed. The electrical properties of these devices show that the material is highly interesting from a microelectronic integration standpoint.

The NATO sponsored Advanced Research Workshop on "Concepts in Electron Correlation" took place on the Croatian island of Hvar during the period from the 29th of September to the 3rd of October, 2002. The topic of electron correlation is a fundamental one in the field of condensed matter, and one that is being very actively studied both experimentally and theoretically at the present time. The manifestations of electron cor relation are diverse, and play an important role in systems ranging from high temperature superconductors, heavy fermions, manganite compounds with colossal magnetoresistance, transition metal compounds with metal insulator transitions, to mesoscopic systems and quantum dots. The aim of the workshop was to provide an opportunity for a dialogue between exper imentalists and theoreticians to assess the current state of understanding, and to set an agenda for future work. There was also a follow-up workshop on the same topic where the presentations included more background and introductory material for younger researchers in the field. The papers presented in these proceedings clearly demonstrate the di versity of current research on electron correlation. They show that real progress is being made in characterising systems experimentally and in developing theoretical approaches for a quantitative comparison with ex periment. The more one learns, however, the more there is to understand, and many of the contributions help to map out the territory which has yet to be explored. We hope that the articles in this volume will be a stimulus for such future work."

This book provides an introduction to conformal field theory and a review of its applications to critical phenomena in condensed-matter systems. After reviewing simple phase transitions and explaining the foundations of conformal invariance and the algebraic methods required, it proceeds to the explicit calculation of four-point correlators. Numerical methods for matrix diagonalization are described as well as finite-size scaling techniques and their conformal extensions. Many exercises are included. Applications treat the Ising, Potts, chiral Potts, Yang-Lee, percolation and XY models, the XXZ chain, linear polymers, tricritical points, conformal turbulence, surface criticality and profiles, defect lines and aperiodically modulated systems, persistent currents and dynamical scaling. The vicinity of the critical point is studied culminating in the exact solution of the two-dimensional Ising model at the critical temperature in a magnetic field. Relevant experimental results are reviewed.

'Felix Flicker brilliantly reveals the secrets behind the modern-day magic we call physics' Marcus du Sautoy 'The world is already telling you its spells; the purpose of this book is to help you listen' Imagine you had a crystal that lit upon your command: magic must be at work, and you must surely be a wizard. But what if you discovered that you routinely cast such spells? Are the spells no longer magic ... or are you a wizard? The modern term for wizardry is condensed matter physics. It is the study of the world around us - the states of matter and how they emerge from the quantum realm. Thanks to its practical magic we can make lasers which cut through solid metal, trains which hover in mid-air, and crystals which light our homes. It is one of the best-kept secrets in science; a third of all physicists work on it, yet its story has never been told. Join Felix Flicker as he introduces the magic of condensed matter physics. It will be a journey that reveals the subtle spells that conjure crystals from chaos and create new particles that have never before existed. The Magick of Matter will revolutionise what you know about physics and reality; you'll never see the world in the same way again.

This book focuses on the modern development of techniques for analysis of the hierarchical structure of polymers from both the experimental and theoretical points of view. Starting with molecular and crystal symmetry, the author explains fundamental and professional methods, such as wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering, neutron diffraction, electron diffraction, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, NMR, and synchrotron radiation. In addition, the author explains another indispensable method, computer simulation, which includes energy calculation, lattice dynamics, molecular dynamics, and quantum chemistry. These various methods are described in a systematic way so that the reader can utilize them for the purpose of 3D structure analysis of polymers. Not only such analytical knowledge but also the preparation techniques of samples necessary for these measurements and the methods of analyzing the experimental data collected in this way are given in a concrete manner. Examples are offered to help master the principles of how to clarify the static structures and dynamic structural changes in the phase transitions of various kinds of crystalline polymers that are revealed by these novel methods. The examples are quite useful for readers who want to apply these techniques in finding practical solutions to concrete problems that are encountered in their own research. The principal audience for this book is made up of young professional researchers including those working in industry, but it can also be used as an excellent reference for graduate-level students. This book is the first volume of a two-volume set with Structural Science of Crystalline Polymers: A Microscopically Viewed Structure-Property Relationship being the second volume by the same author.

Many materials or media in nature and technology possess a microstructure which determines their macroscopic behaviour. The knowledge of the relevant mechanisms is often more comprehensive on the micro than on the macro scale. On the other hand, not all information on the micro level is relevant for the understanding of this macro behaviour. Therefore, averaging and homogenization methods are needed to select only the specific information from the micro scale, which influences the macro scale. These methods also open the possibility to design or to influence microstructures with the objective to optimize their macro behaviour.

This book presents the development of new methods in this interdisciplinary field of macro- micro-interactions of different engineering branches like mechanical and process engineering, applied mathematics, theoretical, and computational physics. In particular, solids with microstructures and particle systems are considered.