This book offers an introduction to the booming field of high-power laser-matter interaction. It covers the heating of matter to super-high temperatures and pressures, novel schemes of fast particle acceleration, matter far from thermal equilibrium, stimulated radiation scattering, relativistic optics, strong field QED, as well as relevant applications, such as extreme states of matter, controlled fusion, and novel radiation sources. All models and methods considered are introduced as they arise and illustrated by relevant examples. Each chapter contains a selection of problems to test the reader's understanding, to apply the models under discussion to relevant situations and to discover their limits of validity. The carefully chosen illustrations greatly facilitate the visualization of physical processes as well as presenting detailed numerical results. A list of useful formulas and tables are provided as a guide to quantifying results from experiments and numerical simulations. Each chapter ends with a description of the state of the art and the current research frontiers.

This textbook offers a strong introduction to the fundamental concepts of materials science. It conveys the quintessence of this interdisciplinary field, distinguishing it from merely solid-state physics and solid-state chemistry, using metals as model systems to elucidate the relation between microstructure and materials properties. Mittemeijer's Fundamentals of Materials Science provides a consistent treatment of the subject matter with a special focus on the microstructure-property relationship. Richly illustrated and thoroughly referenced, it is the ideal adoption for an entire undergraduate, and even graduate, course of study in materials science and engineering. It delivers a solid background against which more specialized texts can be studied, covering the necessary breadth of key topics such as crystallography, structure defects, phase equilibria and transformations, diffusion and kinetics, and mechanical properties. The success of the first edition has led to this updated and extended second edition, featuring detailed discussion of electron microscopy, supermicroscopy and diffraction methods, an extended treatment of diffusion in solids, and a separate chapter on phase transformation kinetics. "In a lucid and masterly manner, the ways in which the microstructure can affect a host of basic phenomena in metals are described.... By consistently staying with the postulated topic of the microstructure - property relationship, this book occupies a singular position within the broad spectrum of comparable materials science literature .... it will also be of permanent value as a reference book for background refreshing, not least because of its unique annotated intermezzi; an ambitious, remarkable work." G. Petzow in International Journal of Materials Research. "The biggest strength of the book is the discussion of the structure-property relationships, which the author has accomplished admirably.... In a nutshell, the book should not be looked at as a quick 'cook book' type text, but as a serious, critical treatise for some significant time to come." G.S. Upadhyaya in Science of Sintering. "The role of lattice defects in deformation processes is clearly illustrated using excellent diagrams . Included are many footnotes, 'Intermezzos', 'Epilogues' and asides within the text from the author's experience. This ..... soon becomes valued for the interesting insights into the subject and shows the human side of its history. Overall this book provides a refreshing treatment of this important subject and should prove a useful addition to the existing text books available to undergraduate and graduate students and researchers in the field of materials science." M. Davies in Materials World.

This book deals with the electro-chemo-mechanical properties characteristic of and unique to solid electrode surfaces, covering interfacial electrochemistry and surface science. Electrochemical reactions such as electro-sorption, electro-deposition or film growth on a solid electrode induce changes in surface stress or film stress that lead to transformation of the surface phase or alteration of the surface film. The properties of solid electrode surfaces associated with the correlation between electrochemical and mechanical phenomena are named "electro-chemo-mechanical properties". The book first derives the surface thermodynamics of solid electrodes as fundamentals for understanding the electro-chemo-mechanical properties. It also explains the powerful techniques for investigating the electro-chemo-mechanical properties, and reviews the arguments for derivation of surface thermodynamics of solid electrodes. Further, based on current experimental findings and theories, it discusses the importance of the contribution of surface stress to the transformation of surface phases, such as surface reconstruction and underpotential deposition in addition to the stress evolution during film growth and film reduction. Moreover, the book describes the nano-mechanical properties of solid surfaces measured by nano-indentation in relation to the electro-chemo-mechanical properties. This book makes a significant contribution to the further development of numerous fields, including electrocatalysis, materials science and corrosion science.

This book introduces readers to the characteristic features of electromagnetic phenomena in superconductivity. It first demonstrates not only that the diamagnetism in the superconductivity complies with Maxwell's theory, which was formulated before the discovery of superconductivity, but also that the dominant E-B analogy in the electromagnetism loses perfection without the superconductivity. The book then explores flux pinning, which is responsible for the non-dissipative current in DC, leading to irreversibility in AC. Drawing on Maxwell's work, it also proves theoretically that if there is no energy dissipation in the superconductivity caused by the break in time reversal symmetry, it contradicts the thermodynamic principle of energy conservation - something that had previously only been proved experimentally. Lastly, the book addresses the longitudinal magnetic field effect, and explains how this phenomenon leads to a new development of Maxwell's theory. Featuring numerous appendices to help readers understand the methods of derivation of equations, this book offers students and young scientists an introduction to applied superconductivity, especially in the context of power applications. Presenting the characteristic features of electromagnetic phenomena in superconductivity from basic to advanced topics for applications, the book offers a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers studying superconductivity as well as engineers working in electric utility industry.

This book highlights a novel and holistic approach to multiscaled PVA bionanocomposite films used for electrical sensing, medical and packaging applications. With a combination of material characterization and modeling to understand the effect of nanoparticle size and shape, as well as 3D interphase properties and features such as interphase modulus and nanoscale dimensions, this book substantiates how excellent mechanical and thermal properties of these materials are achieved. Also it addresses the importance of using economical and ecofriendly bionanocomposites as potential green materials to support the goal of environmental sustainability with multifunctional properties.

This book gathers contributions on a variety of flowing collective systems. While primarily focusing on pedestrian dynamics, they also reflect the latest developments in areas such as vehicular traffic and granular flows and address related emerging topics such as self-propelled particles, data transport, swarm behavior, intercellular transport, and collective dynamics of biological systems. Combining fundamental research and practical applications in the various fields discussed, the book offers a valuable asset for researchers and practitioners alike.

In two volumes, this book presents a detailed, systematic treatment of electromagnetics with application to the propagation of transient electromagnetic fields (including ultrawideband signals and ultrashort pulses) in dispersive attenuative media. The development in this expanded, updated, and reorganized new edition is mathematically rigorous, progressing from classical theory to the asymptotic description of pulsed wave fields in Debye and Lorentz model dielectrics, Drude model conductors, and composite model semiconductors. It will be of use to researchers as a resource on electromagnetic radiation and wave propagation theory with applications to ground and foliage penetrating radar, medical imaging, communications, and safety issues associated with ultrawideband pulsed fields. With meaningful exercises, and an authoritative selection of topics, it can also be used as a textbook to prepare graduate students for research. Volume 2 presents a detailed asymptotic description of plane wave pulse propagation in dielectric, conducting, and semiconducting materials as described by the classical Lorentz model of dielectric resonance, the Rocard-Powles-Debye model of orientational polarization, and the Drude model of metals. The rigorous description of the signal velocity of a pulse in a dispersive material is presented in connection with the question of superluminal pulse propagation. The second edition contains new material on the effects of spatial dispersion on precursor formation, and pulse transmission into a dispersive half space and into multilayered media. Volume 1 covers spectral representations in temporally dispersive media.

This thesis demonstrates a technology that enables pipetting-free high-throughput screening (HTS) on a miniaturized platform, eliminating the need for thousands of one-by-one pipetting and conventional liquid handling systems. This platform enhances accessibility to HTS and enables HTS to be used in small-to-medium scale laboratories. In addition, it allows large-scale combinatorial screening with a small number of valuable cells, such as patients' primary cancer cells. This technique will have a high impact for widespread use of HTS in the era of personalized medicine. In this thesis, the author firstly describes the need and concept of 'partipetting' for pipetting-free HTS platform. It is realized by the one-step pipetting and self-assembly of encoded drug-laden microparticles (DLPs) on the microwells. Next, the technical implementations required for the platform demonstration are described. It includes preparation of encoded DLPs, plastic chip fabrication, and realization of automated system. Lastly, screening of sequential drug combinations using this platform is demonstrated. This shows the potential of the proposed technology for various applications.

This book highlights recent advances in thin-film photonics, particularly as building blocks of metamaterials and metasurfaces. Recent advances in nanophotonics has demonstrated remarkable control over the electromagnetic field by tailoring the optical properties of materials at the subwavelength scale which results in the emergence of metamaterials and metasurfaces. However, most of the proposed platforms require intense lithography which makes them of minor practical relevance. Stacked ultrathin-films of dielectrics, semi-conductors, and metals are introduced as an alternative platform that perform unique or similar functionalities. This book discusses the new era of thin film photonics and its potential applications in perfect and selective light absorption, structural coloring, biosensing, enhanced spontaneous emission, reconfigurable photonic devices and super lensing.

The book reviews photosynthetic water oxidation and proton-coupled electron transfer in photosystem, focusing on the molecular vibrations of amino acid residues and water molecules. Photosynthetic water oxidation performed by plants and cyanobacteria is essential for the sustenance of life on Earth, not only as an electron source for synthesizing sugars from CO2, but also as an O2 source in the atmosphere. Water oxidation takes place at the Mn4CaO5 cluster in photosystem II, where a series of electron transfer reactions coupled with proton transfer occur using light energy. The author addresses the unresolved mechanisms of photosynthetic water oxidation and relevant proton-coupled electron transfer reactions using a combined approach of experimental and computational methods such as Fourier transform infrared difference spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. The results show that protonation and hydrogen-bond structures of water molecules and amino acid residues in the protein play important roles in regulation of the electron and proton transfer reactions. These findings and the methodology make a significant contribution to our understanding the molecular mechanism of photosynthetic water oxidation.

This new game book for understanding atoms at play aims to document diffusion processes and various other properties operative in advanced technological materials. Diffusion in functional organic chemicals, polymers, granular materials, complex oxides, metallic glasses, and quasi-crystals among other advanced materials is a highly interactive and synergic phenomenon. A large variety of atomic arrangements are possible. Each arrangement affects the performance of these advanced, polycrystalline multiphase materials used in photonics, MEMS, electronics, and other applications of current and developing interest. This book is written by pioneers in industry and academia for engineers, chemists, and physicists in industry and academia at the forefront of today's challenges in nanotechnology, surface science, materials science, and semiconductors.

Each chapter in this volume is focused on a specific set of solvent properties which determine its choice, effect on properties of solutes and solutions, properties of different groups of solvents and the summary of their applications' effect. This includes effectson health and environment (given in tabulated form), swelling of solids in solvents, solvent diffusion and drying processes, nature of interaction of solvent and solute in solutions, acid-base interactions, effect of solvents on spectral and other electronic properties of solutions, effect of solvents on rheology of solution, aggregation of solutes, permeability, molecular structure, crystallinity, configuration, and conformation of dissolved high molecular weight compounds, methods of application of solvent mixtures to enhance the range of their applicability, and effect of solvents on chemical reactions and reactivity of dissolved substances.
Provides key insight to help engineers and scientists select the best solvent for the jobPractical information and ideas to improve existing processes involving solventsBrings together the latest advances in solvent technology and applications"

This book introduces readers to experimental techniques of general utility that can be used to practically and reliably determine nucleation rates. It also covers the basics of gas hydrates, phase equilibria, nucleation theory, crystal growth, and interfacial gaseous states. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in the field of hydrate nucleation. The formation of gas hydrates is a first-order phase transition that begins with nucleation. Understanding nucleation is of interest to many working in the chemical and petroleum industry, since nucleation, while beneficial in many chemical processes, is also a concern in terms of flow assurance for oil and natural gas pipelines. A primary difficulty in the investigation of gas hydrate nucleation has been researchers' inability to determine and compare the nucleation rates of gas hydrates across systems with different scales and levels of complexity, which in turn has limited their ability to study the nucleation process itself. This book introduces readers to experimental techniques that can be used to practically and reliably determine the nucleation rates of gas hydrate systems. It also covers the basics of gas hydrates, phase equilibria, nucleation theory, crystal growth, and interfacial gaseous states. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in the field of hydrate nucleation.

This textbook, now in an expanded third edition, emphasizes the importance of advanced quantum mechanics for materials science and all experimental techniques which employ photon absorption, emission, or scattering. Important aspects of introductory quantum mechanics are covered in the first seven chapters to make the subject self-contained and accessible for a wide audience. Advanced Quantum Mechanics: Materials and Photons can therefore be used for advanced undergraduate courses and introductory graduate courses which are targeted towards students with diverse academic backgrounds from the Natural Sciences or Engineering. To enhance this inclusive aspect of making the subject as accessible as possible, introductions to Lagrangian mechanics and the covariant formulation of electrodynamics are provided in appendices. This third edition includes 60 new exercises, new and improved illustrations, and new material on interpretations of quantum mechanics. Other special features include an introduction to Lagrangian field theory and an integrated discussion of transition amplitudes with discrete or continuous initial or final states. Once students have acquired an understanding of basic quantum mechanics and classical field theory, canonical field quantization is easy. Furthermore, the integrated discussion of transition amplitudes naturally leads to the notions of transition probabilities, decay rates, absorption cross sections and scattering cross sections, which are important for all experimental techniques that use photon probes.

The Phase Field Crystal (PFC) model incorporates microscopic structural details into a mesoscopic continuum theory. Methods for fast propagation of PFC interfaces are discussed in this book. They can handle a wide range of thermal gradients, supersaturations and supercoolings, including applications such as selective laser melting. The reader will find theoretical treatment in the first half, while the latter half discusses numerical models.

This book offers a concise primer on energy conversion efficiency and the Shockley-Queisser limit in single p-n junction solar cells. It covers all the important fundamental physics necessary to understand the conversion efficiency, which is indispensable in studying, investigating, analyzing, and designing solar cells in practice. As such it is valuable as a supplementary text for courses on photovoltaics, and bridges the gap between advanced topics in solar cell device engineering and the fundamental physics covered in undergraduate courses. The book first introduces the principles and features of solar cells compared to those of chemical batteries, and reviews photons, statistics and radiation as the physics of the source energy. Based on these foundations, it clarifies the conversion efficiency of a single p-n junction solar cell and discusses the Shockley-Queisser limit. Furthermore, it looks into various concepts of solar cells for breaking through the efficiency limit given in the single junction solar cell and presents feasible theoretical predictions. To round out readers' knowledge of p-n junctions, the final chapter also reviews the essential semiconductor physics. The foundation of solar cell physics and engineering provided here is a valuable resource for readers with no background in solar cells, such as upper undergraduate and master students. At the same time, the deep insights provided allow readers to step seamlessly into other advanced books and their own research topics.

This book explores several key issues in beam phase space dynamics in plasma-based wakefield accelerators. It reveals the phase space dynamics of ionization-based injection methods by identifying two key phase mixing processes. Subsequently, the book proposes a two-color laser ionization injection scheme for generating high-quality beams, and assesses it using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. To eliminate emittance growth when the beam propagates between plasma accelerators and traditional accelerator components, a method using longitudinally tailored plasma structures as phase space matching components is proposed. Based on the aspects above, a preliminary design study on X-ray free-electron lasers driven by plasma accelerators is presented. Lastly, an important type of numerical noise-the numerical Cherenkov instabilities in particle-in-cell codes-is systematically studied.

This book presents the basics and methods of nanoscale analytical techniques for tribology field. It gives guidance to the application of mechanical, microstructural, chemical characterization methods and topography analysis of materials. It provides an overview of the of state-of-the-art for researchers and practitioners in the field of tribology. It shows different examples to the application of mechanical, microstructural, chemical characterization methods and topography analysis of materials. Friction and Wear phenomena are governed by complexe processes at the interface of sliding surfaces. For a detailed understanding of these phenomena many surface sensitive techniques have become available in recent years. The applied methods are atom probe tomography, in situ TEM, SERS, NEXAFS, in situ XPS, nanoindentation and in situ Raman spectroscopy. A survey of new related numerical calculations completes this book. This concerns ab-initio coupling, numerical calculations for mechanical aspects and density functional theory (DFT) to study chemical reactivity.

This book discusses non-equilibrium quantum many-body dynamics, recently explored in an analog quantum simulator of strongly correlated ultracold atoms. The first part presents a field-theoretical analysis of the experimental observability of the Higgs amplitude mode that emerges as a relativistic collective excitation near a quantum phase transition of superfluid Bose gases in an optical lattice potential. The author presents the dynamical susceptibilities to external driving of the microscopic parameters, taking into account a leading-order perturbative correction from quantum and thermal fluctuations and shows clear signatures of the Higgs mode in these observables. This is the first result that strongly supports the stability of the Higgs mode in three-dimensional optical lattices even in the presence of a spatially inhomogeneous confinement potential and paves the way for desktop observations of the Higgs mode. In the second part, the author applies the semi-classical truncated-Wigner approximation (TWA) to far-from-equilibrium quantum dynamics. Specifically, he considers the recent experiments on quantum-quench dynamics in a Bose-Hubbard quantum simulator. A direct comparison shows remarkable agreement between the numerical results from TWA and the experimental data. This result clearly indicates the potential of such a semi-classical approach in reliably simulating many-body systems using classical computers. The book also includes several chapters providing comprehensive reviews of the recent studies on cold-atomic quantum simulation and various theoretical methods, including the Schwinger-boson approach in strongly correlated systems and the phase-space semi-classical method for far-from-equilibrium quantum dynamics. These chapters are highly recommended to students and young researchers who are interested in semi-classical approaches in non-equilibrium quantum dynamics.

This book systematically reviews the history of lead-free piezoelectric materials, including the latest research. It also addresses a number of important issues, such as new types of materials prepared in a multitude of sizes, structural and physical properties, and potential applications for high-performance devices. Further, it examines in detail the state of the art in lead-free piezoelectric materials, focusing on the pathways to modify different structures and achieve enhanced physical properties and new functional behavior. Lastly, it discusses the prospects for potential future developments in lead-free piezoelectric materials across disciplines and for multifunctional applications. Given its breadth of coverage, the book offers a comprehensive resource for graduate students, academic researchers, development scientists, materials producers, device designers and applications engineers who are working on or are interested in advanced lead-free piezoelectric materials.

This significantly extended second edition addresses the important physical phenomenon of Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) or Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPP) in thin metal films, a phenomenon which is exploited in the design of a large variety of physico-chemical optical sensors. In this treatment, crucial materials aspects for design and optimization of SPR sensors are investigated and described in detail. The text covers a selection of nanometer thin metal films, ranging from free-electron to the platinum-type conductors, along with their combination with a large variety of dielectric substrate materials, and associated individual layer and opto-geometric arrangements. Whereas the first edition treated solely the metal-liquid interface, the SP-resonance conditions considered here are expanded to cover the metal-gas interface in the angular and wavelength interrogation modes, localized and long-range SP's and the influence of native oxidic ad-layers in the case of non-noble metals. Furthermore, a selection of metal grating structures that allow SP excitation is presented, as are features of radiative SP's. Finally, this treatise includes as-yet hardly explored SPR features of selected metal-metal and metal-dielectric superlattices. An in-depth multilayer Fresnel evaluation provides the mathematical tool for this optical analysis, which otherwise relies solely on experimentally determined electro-optical materials parameters.