The MRS Symposium Proceeding series is an internationally recognised reference suitable for researchers and practitioners. This volume was first published in 1999.

Controlling the properties of materials by modifying their composition and by manipulating the arrangement of atoms and molecules is a dream that can be achieved by nanotechnology. As one of the fastest developing and innovative -- as well as well-funded -- fields in science, nanotechnology has already significantly changed the research landscape in chemistry, materials science, and physics, with numerous applications in consumer products, such as sunscreens and water-repellent clothes. It is also thanks to this multidisciplinary field that flat panel displays, highly efficient solar cells, and new biological imaging techniques have become reality. This second, enlarged edition has been fully updated to address the rapid progress made within this field in recent years. Internationally recognized experts provide comprehensive, first-hand information, resulting in an overview of the entire nano-micro world. In so doing, they cover aspects of funding and commercialization, the manufacture and future applications of nanomaterials, the fundamentals of nanostructures leading to macroscale objects as well as the ongoing miniaturization toward the nanoscale domain. Along the way, the authors explain the effects occurring at the nanoscale and the nanotechnological characterization techniques. An additional topic on the role of nanotechnology in energy and mobility covers the challenge of developing materials and devices, such as electrodes and membrane materials for fuel cells and catalysts for sustainable transportation. Also new to this edition are the latest figures for funding, investments, and commercialization prospects, as well as recent research programs and organizations.

Liquid crystal (LC) materials and devices play a central role in numerous established and emerging technologies. This book focuses on several large areas of research including polymer-dispersed liquid crystal technology and twisted smectic materials and applications, as well as nontraditional LC materials and applications. Various aspects of liquid crystal composite technology are featured. Of note is the work concentrating on the use of holography to imprint information into thin films of these systems. Three different approaches for employing holography with liquid crystal materials are discussed. In the ferroelectric liquid crystal arena, the intricacies of different chiral smectic-C architectures are described using detailed X-ray structural experiments on freestanding films. The differences between a molecule and a phase are explored. A number of nondisplay applications using this class of materials are presented and include topics such as adaptive optics, real-time holography and fiber-to-fiber interconnects. Also discussed are glass-forming liquid crystalline films and their ability to polarize photoluminescent emission, their utility in the fabrication of mid-wavelength infrared polarizers, and their utility in the fabrication of bistable electro-optical elements and broadband reflectors.

Compound semiconductors, such as GaAs and InP, typically have relatively high surface recombination velocities compared to silicon, and are subject to disruption of the surface during device processing. These two themes formed the basis for the April 1999 symposium. The 34 papers are divided into five broad topics areas: fundamentals of surfaces and their passivation, novel approaches for surface passivation and device processing, the structural, transport and optical properties of oxides, compound semiconductor surface passivation and novel device processing, and electronic devices and processing. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The MRS Symposium Proceeding series is an internationally recognised reference suitable for researchers and practitioners.