Materials Science on the Atomic Scale with the 3-D Atom Probe

16 Nov 2006 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): George D. W. Smith

Some of the key goals of materials science and technology are to be able to design a material from first principles, to predict its behaviour, and also to optimise the processing route for its manufacture. In recent years, these goals have come closer to realisation, thanks in part to the …

The Potential of Nanostructured Materials to Address the Challenge of a Sustainable Energy Resource

14 Feb 2008 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Mildred S. Dresselhaus

An overview is presented on the grand challenges to the science community in the next few decades in meeting global energy needs for the 21st century. Major advances in our present capabilities will be needed for energy production and storage and for its conversion from one form to another. These …

Highly Efficient Thermal Transport: The Application of Carbon Nanotube Array Interfaces

01 Feb 2007 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Baratunde A. Cola

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have received much attention in recent years for their extraordinary properties that through careful engineering may be leverage for the development of numerous advantageous applications. However, to date, only few CNT based applications exist in the market place. So when …

In Search of the Perfect Semiconductor Photon Detector

19 May 2008 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Peter Y. Yu

Photon detectors have many important applications, such as in heat sensing, digital cameras, solar cells and x-ray and gamma-ray detection. So far, the most common detectors are based on elemental semiconductors , such as Si and Ge. However, they are by no means perfect in tackling some of the …

Modern X-ray Scattering Methods for Nanoscale Materials Analysis

15 Oct 2008 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Richard J. Matyi

Since its discovery by von Laue in 1912, X-ray diffraction has become an indispensable tool for structure determinations in the physical and biological sciences. X-rays are characterized by high energies and by wavelengths that are commensurate with nanometer-sized structures – unlike …

Nanoparticle and Colloidal Simulations with Molecular Dynamics

05 Dec 2008 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Steve Plimpton

Modeling nanoparticle or colloidal systems in a molecular dynamics (MD) code requires coarse-graining on several levels to achieve meaningful simulation times for study of rheological and other manufacturing properties. These include treating colloids as single particles, moving from explicit to …

Understanding Deformation Processes in Nanocrystalline Metals Through the Use of Real-time Electron Microscopy Techniques

03 May 2007 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Eric Stach

It is has long been known that the grain size of a material has a substantial effect on its mechanical strength, through the well-established Hall-Petch relationship. In the past decade or so, there has been a resurgence of interest in this topic resulting from the ability to create metals with …

High-Aspect-Ratio Micromachining of Titanium: Enabling New Functionality and Opportunity in Micromechanical Systems Through Greater Materials Selection

18 Jun 2008 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Masa Rao

Traditionally, materials selection has been limited in high-aspect-ratio micromechanical applications, due primarily to the predominance of microfabrication processes and infrastructure dedicated to silicon. While silicon has proven to be an excellent material for many of these applications, no one …