Ebook: Functional Properties of Nanostructured Materials

The beginning of the XXI-st century can be seen as the start of a revolution in nanomaterials and nanotechnology which has already an impact on everyday life; this impact will grow rapidly in the near future. The need for international but also interdisciplinary cooperation and dissemination of knowledge in the field of nanoscale science and engineering is also becoming increasingly apparent. The common efforts of researchers from different countries and fields of science can bring complementary expertise to solve the rising problems in order to take the advantages of the nanoscale approach in materials sciences. Nanostructured materials are becoming of major significance, and their investigations require a comprehensive approach. The fundamental properties of these materials are remarkably altered as the size of their constituent grains or phases decreases to the nanometer scale. These novel materials made of nanosized building blocks offer unique and entirely different electrical, optical, mechanical, and magnetic properties compared to conventional micro- or millimetre-size materials owing to their distinctive size, shape, topology, surface properties, etc.

This book, based on the lectures and contributions of the NATO ASI on "Functional Properties of Nanostructured Materials", gives a broad overview on this topic, as it combines basic theoretical articles, papers dealing with experimental techniques, and contributions on advanced and up-to-date applications in fields such as microelectronics, optoelectronics, electrochemistry, sensorics, and biotechnology. In addition, it presents an interdisciplinary approach since the authors came from such different fields as physics, chemistry, engineering, materials science and biology. Some emphasis is given to the field of nanostructured/nanoscaled thin films, again stretching from basic theoretical over experimental (including both, fabrication and characterization) to application oriented topics.

A major advantage of the book, which represents the knowledge of experts from 12 countries, is the combination of longer papers introducing the basic knowledge on a certain topic, and brief contributions highlighting special methods and applications.