Over the last several years, the field of materials science has witnessed an explosion of new, advanced materials. They encompass many uses and include superconductors, alloys, glasses, and catalysts. Not only are there quite a number of new enhies into these generic classes of materials, but the materials themselves represent a wide array of physical forms as well. Bulk materials, for example, are being synthesized and applica tions found for them, while still other materials are being synthesized as thin films for yet still more new (and in some cases, as yet unknown) applications. The...

Over the last several years, the field of materials science has witnessed an explosion of new, advanced materials. They encompass many uses and include superconductors, alloys, glasses, and catalysts. Not only are there quite a number of new enhies into these generic classes of materials, but the materials themselves represent a wide array of physical forms as well. Bulk materials, for example, are being synthesized and applica- tions found for them, while still other materials are being synthesized as thin films for yet still more new (and in some cases, as yet unknown) applications. The...