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

This book discusses current techniques and instrumentation for cluster chemistry. It addresses both the experimental and theoretical aspects of gas-phase metal cluster reactivities, especially those pertaining to pollution removal, energetic reactions and corrosion and anticorrosion. These metal cluster systems have attracted enormous interest as they display a completely new class of physical, chemical, electronic, magnetic and catalytic properties. As these properties change with size and composition, it can thus be understood how their nature evolves from atoms to bulk solids. The book offers readers a basic understanding of the structural chemistry and reactivity of metal clusters in both gas-phase and wet chemistry. Further, the lessons they learn here regarding metal cluster chemistry will prepare researchers for the study of condensed phase dynamics that pertain to wet chemical synthesis, soft-landing deposition and cluster assembly.

Layered thin film structures often have unusual properties which make them appealing in a wide range of applications. Fabrication of submicron and nanometer multilayers can produce metastable phases that many not be predicted from the bulk equilibrium phase diagrams. Understanding the growth, structure, stability and properties of multilayers, and controlling their microstructure through processing, are important in many applications. This book focuses on the relationship of structure and processing to the properties that are relevant to all researchers in the field of multilayers. Topics include: phase transformation and reaction kinetics; processing and growth; structural characterization; magnetic, electronic and optical properties; mechanical properties; X-ray optics; thin-film interfaces.