The hardest requirements on a material are in general imposed at the surface: it has to be wear resistant for tools and bearings; corrosion resistant for turbine blades; antireflecting for solar cells; and it must combine several of these properties in other applications. `Surface engineering' is the general term that incorporates all the techniques by which a surface modification can be accomplished. These techniques include both the more traditional methods, such as nitriding, boriding and carburizing, and the newer ones, such as ion implantation, laser beam melting and, in particular, coating. This book comprises and compares in a unique way all these techniques of surface engineering. It is a compilation of lectures which were held by renowned scientists and engineers in the frame of the well known `EuroCourses' of the Joint Research Centre of the Commission of the European Communities. The book is principally addressed to material and surface scientists, physicists and chemists, engineers and technicians of industries and institutes where surface engineering problems arise.

Physicists firmly believe that the differential equations of nature should be hyperbolic so as to exclude action at a distance; yet the equations of irreversible thermodynamics - those of Navier-Stokes and Fourier - are parabolic. This incompatibility between the expectation of physicists and the classical laws of thermodynamics has prompted the formulation of extended thermodynamics. After describing the motifs and early evolution of this new branch of irreversible thermodynamics, the authors apply the theory to mon-atomic gases, mixtures of gases, relativistic gases, and "gases" of phonons and photons. The discussion brings into perspective the various phenomena called second sound, such as heat propagation, propagation of shear stress and concentration, and the second sound in liquid helium. The formal mathematical structure of extended thermodynamics is exposed and the theory is shown to be fully compatible with the kinetic theory of gases. The study closes with the testing of extended thermodynamics through the exploitation of its predictions for measurements of light scattering and sound propagation.

This volume compiles essential contributions to the most innovative fields of Plasma Processes and Polymers. High-quality contributions cover the fields of plasma deposition, plasma treatment of polymers and other organic compounds, plasma processes under partial vacuum and at atmospheric pressure, biomedical, textile, automotive, and optical applications as well as surface treatment of bulk materials, clusters, particles and powders. This unique collection of refereed papers is based on the best contributions presented at the 16th International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry in Taormina, Italy (ISPC-16, June 2003). A high class reference of relevance to a large audience in plasma community as well as in the area of its industrial applications.