The dielectric properties especially of glassy materials are nowadays explored at widely varying temperatures and pressures without any gap in the spectral range from μHz up to the Infrared, thus covering typically 20 decades or more. This extraordinary span enables to trace the scaling and the mutual interactions of relaxation processes in detail, e.g. the dynamic glass transition and secondary relaxations, but as well far infrared vibrations, like the Boson peak. Additionally the evolution of intra-molecular interactions in the course of the dynamic glass transition is also well explored by (Fourier Transform) Infrared Spectroscopy. This volume within 'Advances in Dielectrics' summarizes this knowledge and discusses it with respect to the existing and often competing theoretical concepts.

The field of non-crystalline materials has seen the emergence of many challeng ing problems during its long history. In recent years, the interest in polymeric and biological disordered matter has stimulated new activities which in turn have enlarged the organic and inorganic glass community. The current research fields and recent progress have extended our knowledge of the rich phenomenol ogy of glassy systems, where the role of disorder is fundamental for the underlying microscopic dynamics. In addition, despite the lack of a unified theory, many interesting theoretical models have recently evolved. The present volume offers the reader a collection of topics representing the current state in the understanding of disorder effects as well as a survey of the basic problems and phenomena involved. The task of compiling a book devoted to disordered systems has benefited much from a seminar organized by the W.-E. Heraeus Foundation in Bad Honnef in April 1992, where we had the opportunity to discuss the project with most of the authors. Here we wish to thank the Heraeus Foundation for their support, and the authors and Springer-Verlag, especially Dr. Marion Hertel, for the pleasant cooperation.

The first NATO Advanced Workshop on Quantum Tunneling of Magnetization (QTM) was organized and co-directed by Bernard Barbara, Leon Gunther, Nicolas Garcia, and Anthony Leggett and was held from June, 27 through July 1, 1994 in Grenoble and Chichilianne, France. These Proceedings include twenty-nine articles that represent the contributions of the participants in the Workshop. Quantum Tunneling of Magnetization is not only interesting for purely academic reasons. It was pointed out in the review article by L. Gunther in the December, 1990 issue of Physics World, that QTM may be destined to play a significant role within the next two decades in limiting the density of information storage in magnetic systems. Recent advances have indicated that this limitation may well be reached even earlier than first predicted. Furthermore, the number of people who have entered the field of study of QTM during these past few years has increased many fi)ld. The time was therefore opportune to hold a Workshop to bring together for the first time the leading researchers of QTM, both theoretical and experimental, so as to discuss the current status of the field. The most controversial issue at the time of the Workshop was how to establish r.eliable criteria for determining whether experimental results do indeed reveal manifestations of QTM. We believe that much progress was made at the Workshop on this issue.

In December 2002, the world's first commercial magnetic levitation super-train went into operation in Shanghai. The train is held just above the rails by magnetic levitation (maglev) and can travel at a speed of 400 km/hr, completing the 30km journey from the city to the airport in minutes. Now consumers are enjoying 50 GB hard drives compared to 0.5 GB hard drives ten years ago. Achievements in magnetic materials research have made dreams of a few decades ago reality. The objective of the four volume reference, Handbook of Advanced Magnetic Materials, is to provide a comprehensive review of recent progress in magnetic materials research. Each chapter will have an introduction to give a clear definition of basic and important concepts of the topic. The details of the topic are then elucidated theoretically and experimentally. New ideas for further advancement are then discussed. Sufficient references are also included for those who wish to read the original work. In the last decade, one of the most significant thrust areas of materials research has been nanostructured magnetic materials. There are several critical sizes that control the behavior of a magnetic material, and size effects become especially critical when dimensions approach a few nanometers, where quantum phenomena appear. The first volume of the book, Nanostructured Advanced Magnetic Materials, has therefore been devoted to the recent development of nanostructured magnetic materials, emphasizing size effects. Our understanding of magnetism has advanced with the establishment of the theory of atomic magnetic moments and itinerant magnetism. Simulation is a powerful tool for exploration and explanation of properties of various magnetic materials. Simulation also provides insight for further development of new materials. Naturally, before any simulation can be started, a model must be constructed. This requires that the material be well characterized. Therefore the second volume, Characterization and Simulation provides a comprehensive review of both experimental methods and simulation techniques for the characterization of magnetic materials. After an introduction, each section gives a detailed description of the method and the following sections provide examples and results of the method. Finally further development of the method will be discussed. The success of each type of magnetic material depends on its properties and cost which are directly related to its fabrication process. Processing of a material can be critical for development of artificial materials such as multilayer films, clusters, etc. Moreover, cost-effective processing usually determines whether a material can be commercialized. In recent years processing of materials has continuously evolved from improvement of traditional methods to more sophisticated and novel methods. The objective of the third volume, Processing of Advanced Magnetic Materials, is to provide a comprehensive review of recent developments in processing of advanced magnetic materials. Each chapter will have an introduction and a section to provide a detailed description of the processing method. The following sections give detailed descriptions of the processing, properties and applications of the relevant materials. Finally the potential and limitation of the processing method will be discussed. The properties of a magnetic material can be characterized by intrinsic properties such as anisotropy, saturation magnetization and extrinsic properties such as coercivity. The properties of a magnetic material can be affected by its chemical composition and processing route. With the continuous search for new materials and invention of new processing routes, magnetic properties of materials cover a wide spectrum of soft magnetic materials, hard magnetic materials, recording materials, sensor materials and others. The objective of the fourth volume, Properties and Applications of Advanced Magnetic Materials, is to provide a comprehensive review of recent development of various magnetic materials and their applications. Each chapter will have an introduction of the materials and the principles of their applications. The following sections give a detailed description of the processing, properties and applications. Finally the potential and limitation of the materials will be discussed.

The second, updated edition of this essential reference book provides a wealth of detail on a wide range of electronic and photonic materials, starting from fundamentals and building up to advanced topics and applications. Its extensive coverage, with clear illustrations and applications, carefully selected chapter sequencing and logical flow, makes it very different from other electronic materials handbooks. It has been written by professionals in the field and instructors who teach the subject at a university or in corporate laboratories. The Springer Handbook of Electronic and Photonic Materials, second edition, includes practical applications used as examples, details of experimental techniques, useful tables that summarize equations, and, most importantly, properties of various materials, as well as an extensive glossary. Along with significant updates to the content and the references, the second edition includes a number of new chapters such as those covering novel materials and selected applications. This handbook is a valuable resource for graduate students, researchers and practicing professionals working in the area of electronic, optoelectronic and photonic materials.

This book presents the main results obtained by different laboratories involved in the research group Rheology for polymer melt processing which is associated with French universities, schools of engineering, and the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - France). The group comprises some 15 research laboratories of varied disciplines (chemistry, physics, material sciences, mechanics, mathematics), but with a common challenge viz. to enhance the understanding of the relationships between macromolecular species, their rheology and their processing. Some crucial issues of polymer science have been addressed: correlation of viscoelastic macroscopic bulk property measurements and models, slip at the wall, extrusion defects, correlation between numerical flow simulations and experiments. Features of the book: • The book is unique in that it allows one to grasp the key issues in polymer rheology and processing at once through a series of detailed state-of-the-art contributions, which were previously scattered throughout the literature. • Each paper was reviewed by experts and the book editors and some coordination was established in order to achieve a readable and easy access style. • Papers have been grouped in sections covering successively: Molecular dynamics, Constitutive equations and numerical modelling, Simple and complex flows. • Each paper can be read independently. Since the book is intended as an introduction to the main topics in polymer processing, it will be of interest to graduate students as well as to scientists in academic and industrial laboratories.