Microstructure, Property and Processing of Functional Ceramics describes the preparation, property and local structure microscopy of functional ceramics. It covers functional ceramic fabrication processing, grain boundary phenomena and micro-, nanoscale structures characterizations including scanning electron acoustic microscopy, scanning probe acoustic microscopy and piezoresponse force microscopy. This book is intended for advanced undergraduates, graduates and researchers in the field of materials science, microelectronics, optoelectronics and microscopy. Qingrui Yin and Binghe Zhu both are professors at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Dr. Huarong Zeng is an associate professor at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This text deals with the effect of processing on the microstructure and properties of advanced structural and electroceramic materials. It fulfils the need for a well illustrated book explaining the relation between microstructure and properties in structural ceramics, featuring high quality micrographs and characterization techniques.

The importance of understanding and controlling the effects of microstructure on the properties of ceramics for space and nuclear applications has become well established in recent years, and several introductory reviews are available. It is now appropriate to focus attention on defining pacing problems and the most fertile areas for future effort. This is attempted for the mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties underlying the structural use of ceramics. A dimensional range from subgrain features of polycrystalline bodies to the micromechanics of composites is considered. The status of experimental methods for characterizing microstructure is discussed, as is the importance of improved experimental substances. One pacing factor is the ability to synthesize or prepare desired microstructures with controlled variations, in order to further research into microstructural effects as well as to provide a basis for subsequent technology. (Author).

This volume, titled Proceedings of the International Materials Symposium on Ce ramic Microstructures: Control at the Atomic Level summarizes the progress that has been achieved during the past decade in understanding and controlling microstructures in ceram ics. A particular emphasis of the symposium, and therefore of this volume, is advances in the characterization, understanding, and control of micro structures at the atomic or near-atomic level. This symposium is the fourth in a series of meetings, held every ten years, devoted to ceramic microstructures. The inaugural meeting took place in 1966, and focussed on the analysis, significance, and production of microstructure; the symposium emphasized the need for, and importance of characterization in achieving a more complete understanding of the physical and chemical characteristics of ceramics. A consensus emerged at that meeting on the critical importance of characterization in achieving a more complete understanding of ceramic properties. That point of view became widely accepted in the ensuing decade. The second meeting took place in 1976 at a time of world-wide energy shortages and thus emphasized energy-related applications of ceramics, and more specifically, microstructure-property relationships of those materials. The third meeting, held in 1986, was devoted to the role that interfaces played both during processing, and in influencing the ultimate properties of single and polyphase ceramics, and ceramic-metal systems.

This book contains 17 papers from the Innovative Processing and Synthesis of Ceramics, Glasses and Composites and Advances in Ceramic Matrix Composites symposia held during the 2010 Materials Science and Technology (MS&T'10) meeting, October 17-21, 2010, Houston, Texas. Topics include: Fiber Composites; Modeling and Characterization; Nanomaterials; Testing; Microstructure-Property Relationships; Advanced Coatings; and Processing Methods.

Microstructure characterization of advanced ceramics involves qualitative and quantitative analysis of surface topography, porosity, crystal defects, and interfaces. The structure of the surface controls interaction of ceramics with its surroundings, such as adhesion, gas adsorption, and electron exchange, which play an important role in determining overall properties of a material. Pores in ceramic materials originate from incomplete densification during the sintering process. Their presence interferes with functional properties such as mechanical strength, optical transparency, electrical conductivity, and dielectric response. Crystal defects mostly form either as a result of imperfections during the crystal growth process or as a consequence of structural phase transitions. They generally affect most functional properties of materials. So-called extended defects are interfaces that are boundaries between two solids. The most widespread tools for characterization of ceramic microstructures are microscopic techniques involving optical microscopy, different types of electron microscopy, and various scanning-probe methods. This chapter gives a brief introduction of the features of ceramic microstructure and the corresponding techniques for characterizing them.