For many years, electroactive ceramic, magnetostrictive material and shape memory alloys have been the primary source of actuation materials for manipulation and mobility systems. Electroactive polymers (EAPs) received relatively little attention due to their limited capability. However, effective EAP materials have emerged, changing the paradigm of these materials' capability and potential. Their main attractive characteristic is the operation similarity to biological muscles, where under electrical excitation a large displacement is induced. The potential to operate biologically inspired...

This book on gallium nitride (GaN) and associated materials focuses on advances in basic science, as well as the rapidly maturing technologies involving blue/green light emitters, detectors and high-power electronics. A highlight is a report on wide-bandgap semiconductor research done in Europe. Also reported is the commercialization of a laser operating at 405nm wavelength with a 4000-hour device lifetime. At 450nm emission wavelength, significant reductions in lifetime were found, and are believed to arise from nonideal properties of the InGaN alloy used in the active layer of the device....

Each year synchrotron facilities, both in the United States and in other countries, are utilized for more applications of synchrotron radiation as they pertain to materials science. Both basic and applied research possibilities are manyfold, including studies of materials mentioned below and those that are yet to be discovered. The combination of synchrotron-based spectroscopic techniques with ever-increasing high-resolution microscopy allows researchers to study very small domains of materials in an attempt to understand their chemical and electronic properties. This is especially important...

This book was motivated by the remarkable advances that continue to be made in electron microscope instrumentation and techniques for applications to materials science. Advances include quantitative high-resolution imaging, atomic-resolution Z-contrast imaging, elemental mapping by energy-filtered TEM or spectrum imaging, atomic resolution EELS for composition and bonding, quantitative CBED, site- occupancy determination by ALCHEMI, electron holography, EBSP in the SEM for phase identification and orientation imaging microscopy, low-voltage microanalysis of bulk specimens, and in situ...

Advances in the growth of novel-engineered structures such as sophisticated semiconductor superlattices and heterostructures, as well as new nonlinear optical materials, have opened exciting possibilities for infrared sources, detectors, modulators and novel devices. Brought to maturity, such discrete devices could likely see widespread use in applications as diverse as infrared imaging, chemical sensing, surveillance, short-link and high-bandwidth communications. This book published by MRS, brings together a group of internationally recognized experts in the field to discuss progress in...

Our energy-hungry world increasingly relies on new methods to store and convert energy for portable electronics, as well as environmentally friendly modes of transportation and electrical energy generation. The development of high-performance power sources are intimately linked to the availability of advanced materials. Designing batteries and capacitors with higher specific energy and power, longer cycle life and rapid charge/discharge rates requires a deeper understanding of the relationship between materials properties and performance. Fuel cells, which offer the potential for clean,...

Heterogeneous catalysis is undergoing a dramatic change driven by the need to develop more efficient catalyst systems for the production of specialty chemicals and the development of new high-tech materials. The traditional concept of a catalyst system consisting of finely divided metal particles dispersed on an inert amorphous ceramic support has encountered increased challenges. The chemical and physical phenomena that occur at the metal particle/support interface are looked at together with the detailed structural and crystallographic features of both components. Also of interest is the...

In addition to traditional themes of synthesis, structure and optoelectronic properties of nano- and microcrystalline semiconductors, this book, first published in 1999, reports on properties leading to new optical and biological applications. Individual nanocrystals, as well as nanocrystalline and microcrystalline semiconductors and thin films, represent an interesting class of materials whose properties differ from those of their single-crystal and amorphous counterparts. For example, the electrical, optical and chemical properties may be dominated by surface- and grain-boundary phenomena,...

This book focuses on advances associated with generating processing-microstructure-property-performance relationships of coatings produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods. Various coating materials and applications are discussed, ranging from producing high-quality diamond coatings to developing large-scale or novel diamond-like carbon (DLC) processes, understanding metal-ceramic interface adhesion behavior in thermal barrier coatings, identifying corrosion-resistant ceramic coating materials for high-temperature structural applications, and...

This MRS Proceedings volume pulls together several symposia on related topics in the area of biomaterials, all of which were held April 1-5 at the 2013 MRS spring meeting in San Francisco, California.