This volume represents a record of the proceedings of Symposium LL, "Smart Materials," held November 30- December 2 at the 1999 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, the third symposium in the series on "Smart Materials." In addition to the conventional piezoelectric, magnetostrictive and shape memory materials, the symposium was expanded to include electro-/magnetorheological fluids and mechanochemical actuators. Seventy-one papers were presented over the course of three days. Of the fifty-one papers in this volume, twenty-one (or roughly 41%) came from outside the U.S. reported.

This volume represents a record of the proceedings of the Symposium on Materials for Smart Systems which was held in conjunction with the 1994 Materials Research Society Fall Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. The Symposium revolved primarily around the use of ferroelectrics, magnetostrictive materials, and shape memory materials in the design of compact sensors and actuators. Productive joint sessions were also held in the areas of ferroelectric films-based transducers and chemical sensors. Ninety-six oral presentations were scheduled over the course of three days, including twelve in a joint session with the Symposium on Ferroelectric Thin Films IV, and ten with the Symposium on Chemical Perspectives of Microelectronics Materials. In addition, 35 poster presentations were scheduled during one of the lively evening poster sessions. Of the seventy-three papers in this volume, twenty-five (or roughly 35%) came from outside the U.S. In the ferroelectric sections that follow, innovative work on new antiferroelectric- based actuators, SAW-based actuators and ferroelectric composites is presented. In addition, fundamental studies on the behavior of well-established piezoelectric compositions under severe mechanical or electrical drive conditions are discussed. Several papers highlight the incorporation of ferroelectric actuators into commercial products, including gyroscopes, actively damped automobile suspensions, and medical diagnostic equipment. Among the magnetostrictive materials covered are the high-power magnetostrictive materials, namely the rare-earth and rare-earth-iron alloys, which exhibit large strain from cryogenic temperatures to 250'C.

This volume represents a record of the proceedings of the Symposium on Materials for Smart Systems which was held in conjunction with the 1994 Materials Research Society Fall Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. The Symposium revolved primarily around the use of ferroelectrics, magnetostrictive materials, and shape memory materials in the design of compact sensors and actuators. Productive joint sessions were also held in the areas of ferroelectric films-based transducers and chemical sensors. Ninety-six oral presentations were scheduled over the course of three days, including twelve in a joint session with the Symposium on Ferroelectric Thin Films IV, and ten with the Symposium on Chemical Perspectives of Microelectronics Materials. In addition, 35 poster presentations were scheduled during one of the lively evening poster sessions. Of the seventy-three papers in this volume, twenty-five (or roughly 35%) came from outside the U.S. In the ferroelectric sections that follow, innovative work on new antiferroelectric- based actuators, SAW-based actuators and ferroelectric composites is presented. In addition, fundamental studies on the behavior of well-established piezoelectric compositions under severe mechanical or electrical drive conditions are discussed. Several papers highlight the incorporation of ferroelectric actuators into commercial products, including gyroscopes, actively damped automobile suspensions, and medical diagnostic equipment. jg p.11.

This volume contains papers presented at Symposium H, "Molecular Electronics," held November 29-December 2 at the 1999 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. As Si-based microelectronics marches to ever-smaller feature sizes, the point is rapidly approaching when conventional MOSFETs will no longer operate. Such devices depend on the concept of "doped regions" which can be envisioned to be ever so small until you get to the point where there is only a handful of dopant atoms. Tunneling across ultra-thin films is another major issue. Single molecules as active device elements is a concept that goes back to the 1970's, but in recent years very substantial progress has been made in synthesizing molecules suitable for such purposes. Carbon nanotubes have been a prime candidate for both nanowires and active devices. Molecules as small as single benzene rings, and larger, more complex molecules have been synthesized and measured, showing reproducible current-voltage characteristics. Unusual features are large negative differential resistance and large shifts of resonant peaks as functions of temperature.