By the second half of the twentieth century, a new branch of materials science had come into being — crystalline materials research. Its appearance is linked to the emergence of advanced technologies primarily based on single crystals (bulk crystals and films). At the turn of the last century, the impending onset of the “ceramic era” was forecasted. It was believed that ceramics would play a role comparable to that of the Stone or Bronze Ages in the history of civilization. Naturally, such an assumption was hypothetical, but it showed that ceramic materials had evoked keen interest among researchers. Although sapphire traditionally has been considered a gem, it has developed into a material typical of the “ceramic era.” Widening the field of sapphire application necessitated essential improvement of its homogeneity and working characteristics and extension of the range of sapphire products, especially those with stipulated properties including a preset structural defect distribution. In the early 1980s, successful attainment of crystals with predetermined char- teristics was attributed to proper choice of the growth method. At present, in view of the fact that the requirements for crystalline products have become more str- gent, such an approach tends to be insufficient. It is clear that one must take into account the physical–chemical processes that take place during the formation of the real crystal structure, i.e., the growth mechanisms and the nature and causes of crystal imperfections.

Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceedings Volume 34, Issue 8 - Advanced Processing and Manufacturing Technologies for Structural and Multifunctional Materials VII A collection of 20 papers from The American Ceramic Society's 37th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites, held in Daytona Beach, Florida, January 27-February 1, 2013. This issue includes papers presented in the 7th International Symposium on Advanced Processing and Manufacturing Technologies for Structural and Multifunctional Materials and Systems (Symposium 8).

This book covers the latest progress in the field of transparent ceramics, emphasizing their processing as well as solid-state lasers. It consists of 10 chapters covering the synthesis, characterization and compaction, fundamentals of sintering, densification of transparent ceramics by different methods as well as transparent ceramic applications. This book can be used as a reference for senior undergraduate to postgraduate students, researchers, engineers and material scientists working in solid-state physics.

This issue contains 9 papers from The American Ceramic Society’s 40th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites, held in Daytona Beach, Florida, January 24-29, 2016. This issue includes papers presented in the 10th International Symposium on Advanced Processing and Manufacturing Technologies for Structural and Multifunctional Materials and Systems (Symposium 8), Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies (Focused Session 4), and Field Assisted Sintering (Focused Session 5).

Contains collection of papers from the below symposia held during the 10th Pacific Rim Conference on Ceramic and Glass Technology (PacRim10), June 2-7, 2013, in Coronado, California 2012: Novel, Green, and Strategic Processing and Manufacturing Technologies Polymer Derived Ceramics and Composites Advanced Powder Processing and Manufacturing Technologies Synthesis and Processing of Materials Using Electric Fields/Currents