PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY OF MATERIALS

Introduction; Novel materials for key enabling technologies; examples.

Natural crystals and syntetic crystals; crystals' requirements for technological applications (purity, crystallographic perfection, doping).

Relationships between chemical composition, structure and physical properties. Tailoring of properties via impurity incorporation.

Dimension of crystalline materials as degree of freedom in view of unusual physical characteristics (nanostructures.

Fundamentals of Crystal growth; definition of phase transitions; Nucleation; Thermodynamic and kinetic aspects.

Flowdynamic in Crystal grwoth from the melt; concept of boundary layer; segregation phenomena; distribution of impurities within crystals and layers.

Growth techniques for bulk crystals (from the melt, solution, vapour).

Thin films growth; (molecular beam epitaxy, liquid phase epitaxy, vapour phase epitaxy, sputtering, laser ablation.

Mismatch between films and substrates; strained heterostructures and relaxation.

Formation of extended and point defects; classification of defects and strategies for lowering the defect density; "useful" defects.

Typical growth technology for technologically-important crystals (organic and inorganic semiconductors, laser crystals, functional oxides, etc).

Preparation and applications of Nanostructures.

Metamaterials and their applications.