Fifty-eight peer-reviewed papers from the December 2003 symposium examine questions of structure, properties, and processing of amorphous and nanocrystalline materials. Organized into six sessions, the broad topics covered within this area of materials science include crystallization of amorphous alloys, quasicrystals from metallic glasses, processing and glass forming ability, physical properties, shear bands and mechanical properties, and applications and environmental effects. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Amorphous and nanocrystalline materials are a class of their own. Their properties are quite different to those of the corresponding crystalline materials. This book gives systematic insight into their physical properties, structure, behaviour, and design for special advanced applications.

Amorphous-nanocrystalline alloys are a relatively new class of materials born from the rapid development of new technologies and different methods of producing amorphous and nanocrystalline powders and films, compacting, melt quenching, megaplastic deformation, implantation, laser, plasma, and other high-energy methods. This book considers methods of producing these materials (melt quenching, controlled crystallization, deformation effect, and pulse treatments (photon, laser and ultrasound), spraying thin films, and ion implantation). Theoretical and experimental studies describe plastic deformation mechanisms and physico-mechanical properties. Practical applications are also presented.

Metallic (magnetic and non-magnetic) nanocrystalline materials have been known for over ten years but only recent developments in the research into those complex alloys and their metastable amorphous precursors have created a need to summarize the most important accomplishments in the field. This book is a collection of articles on various aspects of metallic nanocrystalline materials, and an attempt to address this above need. The main focus of the papers is put on the new issues that emerge in the studies of nanocrystalline materials, and, in particular, on (i) new compositions of the alloys, (ii) properties of conventional nanocrystalline materials, (iii) modeling and simulations, (iv) preparation methods, (v) experimental techniques of measurements, and (vi) different modern applications. Interesting phenomena of the physics of nanocrystalline materials are a consequence of the effects induced by the nanocrystalline structure. They include interface physics, the influence of the grain boundaries, the averaging of magnetic anisotropy by exchange interactions, the decrease in exchange length, and the existence of a minimum two-phase structure at the atomic scale. Attention is also paid to the special character of the local atomic ordering and to the corresponding interatomic bonding as well as to anomalies and particularities of electron density distributions, and to the formation of metastable, nanocrystalline (or quasi-crystalline) phases built from exceptionally small grains with special properties. Another important focus of attention are new classes of materials which are not based on new compositions, but rather on the original and special crystalline structure in the nanoscale.

Nanostructured materials have at least one dimension in the nanometer range. They became a very active research area in solid state physics and chemistry in recent years with anticipated applications in various domains, including solar cells, electronics, batteries and sensors. Nanocrystalline metals and oxides are dense polycrystalline solids with a mean grain size below 100 nm. This book is intended to give an overview on selected properties and applications of nanocrystalline metals and oxides by leading experts in the field. The first three chapters provide a very complete theoretical treatment of thermodynamics and atom/ion transport for nanocrystalline materials. The following chapters are experts' views on the development of experimental characterization techniques for nanocrystalline solids with emphasis on electroceramic materials. Nanocrystalline Metals and Oxides is intended for a broad range of readers, foremost chemists, physicists and materials scientists. Theoretical physicists and chemists will certainly also profit from this book. The electroceramics and solid state ionics community are particularly addressed, given the main interests of the editors.

Crystallization is used at some stage in nearly all process industries as a method of production, purification or recovery of solid materials. In recent years, a number of new applications have also come to rely on crystallization processes such as the crystallization of nano and amorphous materials. The articles for this book have been contributed by the most respected researchers in this area and cover the frontier areas of research and developments in crystallization processes. Divided into five parts this book provides the latest research developments in many aspects of crystallization including: chiral crystallization, crystallization of nanomaterials and the crystallization of amorphous and glassy materials. This book is of interest to both fundamental research and also to practicing scientists and will prove invaluable to all chemical engineers and industrial chemists in the process industries as well as crystallization workers and students in industry and academia.