BOOKS & MEDIA UPDATE

December 200464

A materials science primerGonzález-Viñas and Mancini have produced a helpful guide to materials sciencefor those who want to familiarize themselves with the subject quickly, saysSiegmar Roth.

This book is a useful introduction to materials science.

It is especially helpful for undergraduate students and

other newcomers who want to become quickly

informed about the basics of the field. It aims at a

qualitative understanding rather than a rigid

mathematical treatment.

Readers can easily familiarize themselves with the

principles of solid-state physics. The crystalline lattice

is introduced and, using only a few lines, so is the

reciprocal lattice (a hard task, but there is no easy way

to cover the reciprocal lattice, no matter how many

lines you use). Based on the concept of energy bands,

the difference between metals and semiconductors is

discussed, and semiconductor

physics is elaborated so far that

even p-n junctions, polar

transistors, and field-effect

transistors are presented. A short

outline of X-ray diffraction is also

given; just enough to catch the

essentials. A chapter is devoted to

imperfections and defects (point

defects, excitons, and dislocations)

and a very short chapter covers

mechanical and thermal properties

(including the introduction of

phonons). In a concise and useful

way (using only one diagram!), the

most important parameters of

elasticity are demonstrated.

Magnetic, dielectric, and superconducting materials are

treated somewhat more extensively. Not only the

basics, but also high-temperature superconductors, the

Josephson effect, and Josephson junctions are

discussed. More space is used for optical materials

(including solid-state lasers, semiconductor lasers, and

nonlinear optics) and for noncrystalline solids (glasses,

glassy metals, amorphous semiconductors, and a

surprisingly detailed section on quasicrystals).

The chapter on polymers is the longest. This gives a

very useful overview of the classification of polymers,

chemical structures of common polymers, and the

most important polymerization procedures. Order in

chains, as well as molecular weight and methods of

obtaining molecular distribution curves, are discussed.

I find such diagrams as the phase diagram of oligomers

and polymers of ethylene (showing the path from

liquids over greases and waxes to soft and hard

plastics) very instructive. There are several practical

tables with material properties of polymers (glass

temperature, melting temperature, thermal

conductivity, electrical conductivity, etc.). These tables

allow quick orientation for someone who has to use

polymers and wants to know which class of polymers

is worthwhile to inspect more closely.

The book also contains a few pages on surface science

and even fewer (six pages!) on ‘new materials’:

fullerenes, liquid crystals, and biocompatible materials.

Personally, I regret that there is not more space

devoted to these exciting new materials and that they

have not been used as an incentive

to attract people to the topic.

Actually, very little effort is made

to ‘attract’ readers. There are no

color figures or fancy photographs,

and there is no speculation on

spectacular futuristic applications.

Anyone who has not yet decided to

become a materials scientist will

hardly be motivated to do so by the

book, but those who want or have

to learn the essentials of materials

science, and have only a few days

to devote to the task, will certainly

benefit from scanning over the

pages. They will manage this within

a few days because the book does

not have more than 170 pages. But it does contain

details on everything a material scientist has to know.

I will pass the book to new members of my team and

tell them to read it first before they pick up

monographs from the library or download review

articles from the Internet. They should read it to be in

a position to ask questions at seminars and

conferences. The price is perhaps too much to buy a

personal copy for each team member but, if two or

three copies float around in the coffee corner, the

investment will not be wasted.

Siegmar Roth is at the Max-Planck-Institut für

Festkörperforschung in Stuttgart, Germany.

Wenceslao González-Viñas and Héctor L. ManciniAn Introduction to Materials Science

Princeton University Press (2004), 200 pp., ISBN: 0-691-07097-0

$60.00 / £38.95

Three-Dimensional X-rayDiffraction Microscopy

Henning F. Poulsen

Springer (2004), 154 pp.

ISBN: 3-540-22330-4

$149 / £88.50 / �114.95

Poulsen presents a comprehensive

account of three-dimensional X-ray

diffraction microscopy for the

structural characterization of

polycrystalline materials. This

method allows the position,

morphology, phase, strain, and

orientation of hundreds of grains

within a specimen to be determined.

The dynamics of structural elements

can be monitored during annealing or

deformation processes.

Nanotechnology andNanoelectronics

W. R. Fahrner (ed.)

Springer (2005), 269 pp.

ISBN: 3-540-22452-1

$79.95 / £54 / �69.95

Subtitled ‘Materials, Devices, and

Measurement Techniques’, this is a

concise overview of the state-of-the-

art in functional nanostructures. It

covers the production and

characterization of structures in the

nanometer size range. Applications in

electronics are covered alongside an

evaluation of the future prospects of

nanotechnology.

The Nano-MicroInterface: Bridging theMicro and Nano Worlds

Hans-Jörg Fecht and Matthias

Werner (eds.)

John Wiley & Sons (2004), 351 pp.

ISBN: 3-527-30978-0

$135 / £70 / �105

Micro- and nanotechnology merge

where the top-down miniaturization

of microelectronics meets the

bottom-up assembly of

nanostructures. Contributions to this

volume discuss issues at the nano-

micro interface including materials

synthesis, fabrication technologies,

characterization methods, electronic

devices, and bio-interfaces.

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