Since the discovery that polymer single crystals are composed of chain folded macromolecules in 1957, the crystallization of polymers has attracted considerable interest and still provides fascinating and fruitful areas of research.
This volume is based on the proceedings of the NATO-sponsored Advanced Studies Institute (ASn on The New Superconducting Electronics (held 9-20 August 1992 in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire USA).
The main motivation for the organization of the Advanced Research Workshop in Belgirate was the promotion of discussions on the most recent issues and the future perspectives in the field of Solid State lonics.
Remarkable advances in semiconductor growth and processing technologies continue to have a profound impact on condensed-matter physics and to stimulate the invention of novel optoelectronic effects.
Systems with competing energy scales are widespread and exhibit rich and subtle behaviour, although their systematic study is a relatively recent activity.
The publication entitled "e;Surface Studies by Scanning Tunneling Mi- Rl croscopy"e; by Binnig, Rohrer, Gerber and Weibel of the IBM Research Lab- oratory in Riischlikon in 1982 immediately raised considerable interest in the sur- face science community.
High density digital magnetic and magneto-optical storage devices are widely used in audio, video, and data processing information technology, as well as in CAD/CAM computer systems.
Liquid-crystalline phases are now known to be formed by an ever growing range of quite diverse materials, these include those of low molecular weight as well as the novel liquid-crystalline polymers, such phases can also be induced by the addition of a solvent to amphiphilic systems leading to lyotropic liquid crystals.
The development of new materials is recognized as one of the major elements in the overall technological evolution that must go on in order to sustain and even improve the quality of life for citizens of all nations.
In September 1985, in an attempt to simulate the chemistry in a carbon star, Harry Kroto, Bob Curl and Richard Smalley set up a mass spectrometry experiment to study the plasma produced by focusing a pulsed laser on solid graphite.
One of the most spectacular consequences of the description of the superfluid condensate in superfluid He or in superconductors as a single macroscopic quantum state is the quantization of circulation, resulting in quantized vortex lines.
Rapid advances are taking place in the application of density functional theory (DFT) to describe complex electronic structures, to accurately treat large systems and to predict physical and chemical properties.
In the ten years since the scientific rationale for the design, synthesis and application of inorganic and organometallic polymers (IOPs) was first conceptualised, we have witnessed the first tentative exploration of IOPs as precursors to new materials, with efforts focusing on the design and synthesis of novel ceramic precursors.
It is well known that the density of molecular hydrogen can be increased by compression and/or cooling, the ultimate limit in density being that of liquid hydrogen.
Let us begin by quoting from the Preface to the author's Statistical Physics (Moscow, Nauka 1982; also published in English by Harwood in 1986): ''My God!
Observation, Prediction and Simulation of Phase Transitions in Complex Fluids presents an overview of the phase transitions that occur in a variety of soft-matter systems: colloidal suspensions of spherical or rod-like particles and their mixtures, directed polymers and polymer blends, colloid--polymer mixtures, and liquid-forming mesogens.
An extensive body of research is involved in pushing miniaturisation to its physical limit, encompassing the miniaturisation of electronic devices, the manipulation of single atoms by scanning tunnelling microscopy, bio-engineering, the chemical synthesis of complex molecules, microsensor technology, and information storage and retrieval.
Techniques for the preparation of condensed matter systems have advanced considerably in the last decade, principally due to the developments in microfabrication technologies.
This book is intended as an introduction to plasma physics at a level suitable for advanced undergraduates or beginning postgraduate students in physics, applied mathematics or astrophysics.
Turbulence is a dangerous topic which is often at the origin of serious fights in the scientific meetings devoted to it since it represents extremely different points of view, all of which have in common their complexity, as well as an inability to solve the problem.
Silicon dioxide plays a central role in most contemporary electronic and photonic technologies, from fiber optics for communications and medical applications to metal-oxide-semiconductor devices.
The aim of this NATO ASI has been to present an up-to-date overview of current areas of interest in amorphous materials, with particular emphasis on electronic properties and device applications.
For many years, the physics of strongly correlated systems was considered a theorists' playground, right at the border with pure mathematics, where physicists from the `real world' did not venture.
Nanometer scale physics is progressing rapidly: the top-down approach of semiconductor technology will soon encounter the scale of the bottom-up approaches of supramolecular chemistry and spatially localized excitations in ionic crystals.
A collection of lectures on a variety of modern subjects in wave scattering, including fundamental issues in mesoscopic physics and radiative transfer, recent hot topics such as random lasers, liquid crystals, lefthanded materials and time-reversal, as well as modern applications in imaging and communication.
A comprehensive collection of papers on theoretical aspects of electronic processes in simple and synthetic metals, superconductors, bulk and low-dimensional semiconductors under extreme conditions, such as high magnetic and electric fields, low and ultra-low temperatures.
