The self-contained properties of discotic liquid crystals (DLCs) render them powerful functional materials for many semiconducting device applications and models for energy and charge migration in self-organized dynamic functional soft materials. The past three decades have seen tremendous interest in this area, fueled primarily by the possibility of creating a new generation of organic semiconductors and wide viewing displays using DLCs. While a number of books on classical calamitic liquid crystals are available, there are, as yet, no books that are dedicated exclusively to the basic design principles, synthesis, and physical properties of DLCs. The first reference book to cover DLCs, Chemistry of Discotic Liquid Crystals: From Monomers to Polymers highlights the chemistry and thermal behavior of DLCs. Divided into six chapters, each with a general description, background, and context for the concepts involved, the book begins with a basic introduction to liquid crystals, describing molecular self-assembly and various types of liquid crystals. It outlines their classification, covers their history and general applications, and focuses on DLCs and their discovery, structure, characterization, and alignment. The book goes on to examine the chemistry and physical properties of various monomeric DLCs, including 25 sections describing the synthesis and mesomorphic properties of monomeric DLCs formed by different cores. The bulk of the book covers the chemistry and mesomorphism of discotic dimers, oligomers, and polymers and concludes with a look at some applicable properties of DLCs. A comprehensive and up-to-date resource, this book is designed to be accessible and of value not just for students and researchers but also to the directors and principal investigators working in this field, providing the foundation and fuel to advance this fast-growing technological field.

Suspension Plasma Spray Coating of Advanced Ceramics presents the significance of suspension plasma spray coating of ceramics for thermal barrier applications. It covers suspension formation and optimization in different oxide and non-oxide mixtures and ceramic matrix composites (CMC) of sub-micron and nanosized powders. Enabling readers to understand the importance of thermally inert and insulating ceramic coatings on metals and alloys, the book explains how to improve their utilization in applications, such as turbine blades or diesel engines, gas turbines, and coating methods. This book also discusses advanced topics on nanomaterials coatings in monolithic or composite forms as thermal barriers through organic and non-organic based suspensions using high energy plasma spray methods. Features: Presents significant thermal barrier properties using high energy plasma spray methods. Explores advanced surface modification techniques. Covers monolithic, composite, and solid solution ceramics coating. Discusses high precision coating methods. The book will be useful for professional engineers working in surface modification and researchers studying materials science and engineering, corrosion, and abrasion.

This thesis presents a series of experimental techniques based on scanning probe microscopy, which make it possible access the degree of freedom of protons both in real and energy space. These novel techniques and methods allow direct visualization of the concerted quantum tunneling of protons within the hydrogen-bonded network and quantification of the quantum component of a single hydrogen bond at a water-solid interface for the first time. Furthermore, the thesis demonstrates that the anharmonic quantum fluctuations of hydrogen nuclei further weaken the weak hydrogen bonds and strengthen the strong ones. However, this trend was reversed when the hydrogen bond coupled to the local environment. These pioneering findings substantially advance our understanding of the quantum nature of H bonds at the molecular level.

The chemistry, physics, and applications of liquid crystals "beyond" LCDs

Liquid Crystals (LCs) combine order and mobility on a molecular and supramolecular level. But while these remarkable states of matter are most commonly associated with visual display technologies, they have important applications for a variety of other fields as well. "Liquid Crystals Beyond Displays: Chemistry, Physics, and Applications" considers these, bringing together cutting-edge research from some of the most promising areas of LC science.

Featuring contributions from respected researchers from around the globe, this edited volume emphasizes the chemistry, physics, and applications of LCs in areas such as photovoltaics, light-emitting diodes, filed-effect transistors, lasers, molecular motors, nanophotonics and biosensors. Specific chapters look at magnetic LCs, lyotropic chromonic LCs, LC-based chemical sensors, LCs in metamaterials, and much more.

Introducing readers to the fundamentals of LC science through the use of illustrative examples, "Liquid Crystals Beyond Displays" covers not only the most recent research in the myriad areas in which LCs are being utilized, but also looks ahead, addressing potential future developments. Designed for physicists, chemists, engineers, and biologists working in academia or industry, as well as graduate students specializing in LC technology, this is the first book to consider LC applications across a wide range of fields.

This thesis contains three breakthrough results in condensed matter physics. Firstly, broken reflection symmetry in the hidden-order phase of the heavy-fermion material URu2Si2 is observed for the first time. This represents a significant advance in the understanding of this enigmatic material which has long intrigued the condensed matter community due to its emergent long range order exhibited at low temperatures (the so-called "hidden order"). Secondly and thirdly, a novel collective mode (the chiral spin wave) and a novel composite particle (the chiral exciton) are discovered in the three dimensional topological insulator Bi2Se3. This opens up new avenues of possibility for the use of topological insulators in photonic, optoelectronic, and spintronic devices. These discoveries are facilitated by using low-temperature polarized Raman spectroscopy as a tool for identifying optically excited collective modes in strongly correlated electron systems and three-dimensional topological insulators.

No-one who took part in the NATO Advanced Studies Institute from which this book emerges will have forgotten the experience. True, the necessary conditions for a very successful workshop were satisfied: a field of physics bursting with new power and new puzzles, a matchless team of lecturers, an international gathering of students many of whom had themselves contributed at the forefront of their subject, an admirable overlap of experiment and theory, a good mix of experimenters and theorists, an enviable environment. But who could have foreseen the way the workshop became a focus for future directions, how fresh scientific ideas tumbled out of the discussion periods, how the context of teaching the field produced such fruitfulness of research at the highest level? The organisers did have some specific aims in mind. Perhaps foremost was the desire to compare notes among different areas within the sub field of soft condensed matter physics fast becoming known as "complex fluids." For readers seeking a definition, the prosaic "fluids with bits in" can be passed rapidly over in favour of the elegant discussion of slow variables by Scott Milner in his chapter. The uniting goals of the subject are to model the essential molecular or mesoscopic structure theoretically, and to probe this structure as well as the bulk response of the system experimentally. Our famous examples were: colloids, polymers, liquid crystals, block co-polymers and self-assembling surfactant systems.

'A fascinating exploration of how we learned what matter really is, and the journey matter takes from the Big Bang, through exploding stars, ultimately to you and me.' - Sean Carroll, author of Something Deeply Hidden 'If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.' - Carl Sagan We probably all have a vague idea of how to make an apple pie: mix flour and butter, throw in some apples and you're probably most of the way there, right? Think again. Making an apple pie from scratch requires ingredients that definitely aren't available in the supermarket, ovens that can reach temperatures of trillions of degrees, and a preparation time of 13.8 billion years. Inspired by Sagan's famous line, Harry Cliff ventures out in search of the ultimate apple pie recipe, tracing the ingredients of our universe through the hearts of dying stars and back in time to a tiny fraction of a second after our universe began. Along the way, he confronts some really big questions: What is matter really made of? How does the stuff around us escape annihilation in the fearsome heat of the Big Bang? And will we ever be able to understand the very first moments of our universe? In pursuit of answers, Cliff ventures to the largest underground research facility in the world, deep beneath Italy's Gran Sasso mountains, where scientists gaze into the heart of the Sun using the most elusive of particles, the ghostly neutrino. He visits CERN in Switzerland to explore the 'Antimatter Factory' where this stuff of science fiction is manufactured daily (and we're close to knowing whether it falls upwards). And he reveals what the latest data from the Large Hadron Collider may be telling us about the fundamental ingredients of matter. Along the way, Cliff illuminates the history of physics, chemistry, and astronomy that brought us to our present understanding of the world, while offering readers a front-row seat to one of the most dramatic intellectual journeys human beings have ever embarked on. A transfixing deep dive into origins of our world, How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch doesn't just put the makeup of our universe under the microscope, but the awe-inspiring, improbable fact that it exists at all.

Plasma methods that effectively combine ultraviolet radiation, active chemicals, and high electric fields offer an alternative to conventional water treatment methods. However, knowledge of the electric breakdown of liquids has not kept pace with this increasing interest, mostly due to the complexity of phenomena related to the plasma breakdown process. Plasma Discharge in Liquid: Water Treatment and Applications provides engineers and scientists with a fundamental understanding of the physical and chemical phenomena associated with plasma discharges in liquids, particularly in water. It also examines state-of-the-art plasma-assisted water treatment technologies. The Physics & Applications of Underwater Plasma Discharges The first part of the book describes the physical mechanism of pulsed electric breakdown in water and other liquids. It looks at how plasma is generated in liquids and discusses the electronic and bubble mechanism theories for how the electric discharge in liquid is initiated. The second part of the book focuses on various water treatment applications, including: Decontamination of volatile organic compounds and remediation of contaminated water Microorganism sterilization and other biological applications Cooling water treatment Drawing extensively on recent research, this one-stop reference combines the physics and applications of electric breakdown in liquids in a single volume. It offers a valuable resource for scientists, engineers, and students interested in the topic of plasmas in liquids.

Kappa Distributions: Theory and Applications in Plasmas presents the theoretical developments of kappa distributions, their applications in plasmas, and how they affect the underpinnings of our understanding of space and plasma physics, astrophysics, and statistical mechanics/thermodynamics. Separated into three major parts, the book covers theoretical methods, analytical methods in plasmas, and applications in space plasmas. The first part of the book focuses on basic aspects of the statistical theory of kappa distributions, beginning with their connection to the solid backgrounds of non-extensive statistical mechanics. The book then moves on to plasma physics, and is devoted to analytical methods related to kappa distributions on various basic plasma topics, spanning linear/nonlinear plasma waves, solitons, shockwaves, and dusty plasmas. The final part of the book deals with applications in space plasmas, focusing on applications of theoretical and analytical developments in space plasmas from the heliosphere and beyond, in other astrophysical plasmas. Kappa Distributions is ideal for space, plasma, and statistical physicists; geophysicists, especially of the upper atmosphere; Earth and planetary scientists; and astrophysicists.

This book provides an interdisciplinary guide to quasicrystals, the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winning topic, by presenting an up-to-date and detailed introduction to the many fundamental aspects and applications of quasicrystals science. It reviews the most characteristic features of the peculiar geometric order underlying their structure and their reported intrinsic physical properties, along with their potential for specific applications. The role of quasiperiodic order in science and technology is also examined by focusing on the new design capabilities provided by this novel ordering of matter. This book is specifically devoted to promoting the very notion of quasiperiodic order, and to spur its physical implications and technological capabilities. It, therefore, explores the fundamental aspects of intermetallic, photonic, and phononic quasicrystals, as well as soft-matter quasicrystals, including their intrinsic physical and structural properties. In addition, it thoroughly discusses experimental data and related theoretical approaches to explain them, extending the standard treatment given in most current solid state physics literature. It also explores exciting applications in new technological devices of quasiperiodically ordered systems, including multilayered quasiperiodic systems, along with 2D and 3D designs, whilst outlining new frontiers in quasicrystals research. This book can be used as a reader-friendly introductory text for graduate students, in addition to senior scientists and researchers coming from the fields of physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. Key features: * Provides an updated and detailed introduction to the interdisciplinary field of quasicrystals in a tutorial style, considering both fundamental aspects and additional freedom degrees provided by designs based on quasiperiodically ordered materials. * Includes 50 fully worked out exercises with detailed solutions, motivating, and illustrating the different concepts and notions to provide readers with further learning opportunities. * Presents a complete compendium of the current state of the art knowledge of quasicrystalline matter, and outlines future next generation materials based on quasiperiodically ordered designs for their potential use in useful technological devices. Dr. Enrique Macia-Barber is Professor of condensed matter physics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. His research interests include the thermoelectric properties of quasicrystals and DNA biophysics. In 2010 he received the RSEF- BBVA Foundation Excellence Physics Teaching Award. His book Aperiodic Structures in Condensed Matter: Fundamentals and Applications (CRC Press, Boca-Raton, 2009) is one of the Top Selling Physics Books according to YBP Library Services.

The semiconductor industry is moving toward gas-phase reagents, increasing the relative importance of gas purity. Anyone who deals in the manufacturing of these devices needs to understand the technology available for modern gas analysis. Most specialty gas vendors have some re in place for quality assurance, but these usually are very simplistic and outdated methods. No book was available that gave guidance on providing accurate, reproducible data on specialty gas products. This is the first book that provides an introduction to current analytical methods and equipment for the analysis of high- purity gases used in the semiconductor industry and related fields.

This book focuses on the importance of mobile ions presented in oxide structures, what significantly affects the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) properties. The reading starts with the definition of the MOS structure, its various aspects and different types of charges presented in their structure. A review on ionic transport mechanisms and techniques for measuring the mobile ions concentration in the oxides is given, special attention being attempted to the Charge Pumping (CP) technique associated with the Bias Thermal Stress (BTS) method. Theoretical approaches to determine the density of mobile ions as well as their distribution along the oxide thickness are also discussed. The content varies from general to very specific examples, helping the reader to learn more about transport in MOS structures.

After a brief introduction into crystal plasticity,the fun- damentals of crystallographic textures and plastic anisotro- py, a main topic of this book, are outlined. A large chapter is devoted to formability testing both for bulk metal and sheet metal forming. For the first time testing methods for plastic anisotropy of round bars and tubes are included. A profound survey is given of literature about yield criteria for anisotropic materials up to most recent developments and the calculation of forming limits of anisotropic sheet me- tal. Other chapters are concerned with properties of workpieces after metal forming as well as the fundamentals of the theory of plasticity and finite element simulation of metal forming processes. The book is completed by a collection of tables of international standards for formability testing and of flow curves of metals which are most commonly used in metal forming. It is addressed both to university and industrial readers.

This book addresses the physical mechanisms involved in the characteristic electrical properties and the geometrical structures that are observed from dipolar monolayers composed of organic molecules by using dielectric physics, electrostatics, the physics of liquid crystal, and soft matter physics. The orientational order parameters, introduced to quantify the orientational structures of monolayers, guide us towards this goal. Dielectric polarizations are spontaneously generated from monolayers because of their orientational structures, and electrostatic energies due to these dielectric polarizations play a key role in forming the geometrical structures that are observed from monolayers. Free energy minimization is a powerful tool to understand the physical mechanisms that stabilize these geometrical structures because of the soft matter nature of monolayers. The approach makes this book unique among the literatures of monolayers.

''The review articles in this series are invariably of a high standard, and those contained in the most recent volumes to appear...are no exception.'' --- Journal of Plasma Physics, from a review of previous volumes. Volume 18 covers the dynamics of supersonic langmuir turbulence and wall plasma and alpha particles in tokamaks.

This book is meant as an introduction to graphene plasmonics and aims at the advanced undergraduate and graduate students entering the field of plasmonics in graphene. In it different theoretical methods are introduced, starting with an elementary description of graphene plasmonics and evolving towards more advanced topics. This book is essentially self-contained and brings together a number of different topics about the field that are scattered in the vast literature. The text is composed of eleven chapters and of a set of detailed appendices. It can be read in two different ways: Reading only the chapters to get acquainted with the field of plasmonics in graphene or reading the chapters and studying the appendices to get a working knowledge of the topic. The study of the material in this book will bring the students to the forefront of the research in this field.

Semiconductors with optical characteristics have found widespread use in evolving semiconductor photovoltaics, where optical features are important. The industrialization of semiconductors and their allied applications have paved the way for optical measurement techniques to be used in new ways. Due to their unique properties, semiconductors are key components in the daily employed technologies in healthcare, computing, communications, green energy, and a range of other uses. This book examines the fundamental optical properties and applications of semiconductors. It summarizes the information as well as the optical characteristics and applicability of semiconductors through an in-depth review of the literature. Accomplished experts in the field share their knowledge and examine new developments. FEATURES Comprehensive coverage of all types of optical applications using semiconductors Explores relevant composite materials and devices for each application Addresses the optical properties of crystalline and amorphous semiconductors Describes new developments in the field and future potential applications Optical Properties and Applications of Semiconductors is a comprehensive reference and an invaluable resource for engineers, scientists, academics, and industry R&D teams working in applied physics.

Presents simplified but useful and practical equations that can be applied in estimating performance and design of energy-efficient systems in low-temperature systems or cryogenics Contains practical approaches and advanced design materials for insulation, shields/anchors, cryogen vessels/pipes, calorimeters, cryogenic heat switches, cryostats, current leads, and RF couplers Provides a comprehensive introduction to the necessary theory and models needed for solutions to common difficulties and illustrates the engineering examples with about 300 figures

Electroinduced Drift of Neutral Charge Clusters in Salt Solutions presents studies of the processes accompanying the effect of periodic electric and magnetic fields on salt solutions in polar dielectric liquids. The authors explain phenomena from a physical point of view, without theoretical constructions and mathematical calculations. This is done in order to make the book accessible to a wide audience and to help the reader navigate in a multilateral topic that is touched upon when studying processes that occur in liquid media under the external influence of an electromagnetic nature. Additional Features: Explores the phenomenon of selective drift of solvated ions in polar dielectric liquids Applies general principles of electricity and magnetism to describe experimental results Demonstrates how small perturbations of the equilibrium distribution determine not the corrections to the effects but the effects themselves Approaches nonequilibrium molecular physics as a science of physical and chemical processes This book will be useful to specialists, engineers and graduate students, especially those recording and transmitting information in liquid media.

Elastic waves are used in fields as diverse as the non-destructive evaluation of materials, medicine, seismology and telecommunications. Elastic Waves in Solids 2 analyzes the radiation, scattering and generation of these waves. It studies the emission of bulk or surface waves from sources localized on the surface of an isotropic or anisotropic solid. It then examines the scattering of a longitudinal or transverse elastic wave by one or more cylindrical or spherical heterogeneities. Finally, it explores the methods and devices used to generate and detect elastic waves, using the piezoelectric effect or the interaction with a laser beam. Accompanying figures illustrate these properties, and the text provides the orders of magnitude of some characteristic parameters. This book is intended for students completing a master's degree in acoustics, mechanics, geophysics or engineering, as well as teachers and researchers in these disciplines.

The technology behind computers, fiber optics, and networks did not originate in the minds of engineers attempting to build an Internet. The Internet is a culmination of intellectual work by thousands of minds spanning hundreds of years. We have built concept upon concept and technology upon technology to arrive at where we are today, in a world constructed of silicon pathways and controlled by silicon processors. From computers to optical communications, The Silicon Web: Physics for the Internet Age explores the core principles of physics that underlie those technologies that continue to revolutionize our everyday lives. Designed for the nonscientist, this text requires no higher math or prior experience with physics. It starts with an introduction to physics, silicon, and the Internet and then details the basic physics principles at the core of the information technology revolution. A third part examines the quantum era, with in-depth discussion of digital memory and computers. The final part moves onto the Internet era, covering lasers, optical fibers, light amplification, and fiber-optic and wireless communication technologies. The relation between technology and daily life is so intertwined that it is impossible to fully understand modern human experience without having at least a basic understanding of the concepts and history behind modern technology, which continues to become more prevalent as well as more ubiquitous. Going beyond the technical, the book also looks at ways in which science has changed the course of history. It clarifies common misconceptions while offering insight on the social impacts of science with an emphasis on information technology. As a pioneering researcher in quantum mechanics of light, author Michael Raymer has made his own significant contributions to contemporary communications technology

For a few seconds with large machines, scientists and engineers have now created the fusion power of the stars in the laboratory and at the same time find the rich range of complex turbulent electromagnetic waves that transport the plasma confinement systems. The turbulent transport mechanisms created in the laboratory are explained in detail in the second edition of 'Turbulent Transport in Magnetized Plasmas' by Professor Horton.The principles and properties of the major plasma confinement machines are explored with basic physics to the extent currently understood. For the observational laws that are not understood - the empirical confinement laws - offering challenges to the next generation of plasma students and researchers - are explained in detail. An example, is the confinement regime - called the 'I-mode' - currently a hot topic - is explored.Numerous important problems and puzzles for the next generation of plasma scientists are explained. There is growing demand for new simulation codes utilizing the massively parallel computers with MPI and GPU methods. When the 20 billion dollar ITER machine is tested in the 2020ies, new theories and faster/smarter computer simulations running in near real-time control systems will be used to control the burning hydrogen plasmas.

A graduate-level description of recent Japanese research on the chemistry of amorphous silicon film deposition associated with plasma CVD, a step in producing amorphous semiconductors. Reports on studies (of microscopic processes of gas-phase reaction as well as chemical reactions on the film growin

This new edition of College Physics Essentials provides a streamlined update of a major textbook for algebra-based physics. The first volume covers topics such as mechanics, heat, and thermodynamics. The second volume covers electricity, atomic, nuclear, and quantum physics. The authors provide emphasis on worked examples together with expanded problem sets that build from conceptual understanding to numerical solutions and real-world applications to increase reader engagement. Including over 900 images throughout the two volumes, this textbook is highly recommended for students seeking a basic understanding of key physics concepts and how to apply them to real problems.