This book contains the proceedings of 3 symposia dealing with various aspects of small scale structures. Symposium A deals with the development of new materials, including ceramics, polymers, metals, etc., their microstructuring as well as their potential for application in microsystems. All kinds of microsystems are considered, e.g. mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, biochemical and issues related to assembly and packaging were also covered.Symposium B deals with four topics: synthesis and preparation of nanostructured ceramics and composites with well-controlled geometric order and chemical composition; coupling of these structures to transducers for current and future chemical and biochemical devices based upon microoptics, microelectronics, microionics, microelectrodes or molecular cages; planar thin film structures and the control of covalent thin film/transducer couplings, the control of selective, stable and sensitive recognition centers at the surface, at grain boundaries or in the bulk of selected nanostructured materials with extremely narrow particle size distributions; analysis of these structures and sensor functions by means of techniques utilizing photons, electrons, ions, or atomic particle beam probes.Symposium E examines the structure-property relationships in thin films and multilayers, from the point of view of both fundamental studies and practical applications.

The Symposium on Magnetic Ultrathin Films, Multilayers and Surfaces, hosted by the European Materials Research Society, was held at the Palais de la Musique et des Congré in Strasbourg, France on June 4-7, 1996. Its central theme was the relationship of magnetic properties and device performance to structure at the nano and micrometer length scale. Research on the magnetism of surfaces, ultrathin films and multilayers has increased dramatically during recent years. This development was triggered by the discovery of coupling between ferromagnetic layers across nonmagnetic spacer layers and of the giant magnetoresistance effect in systems of reduced dimension using various micro and nanofabrication techniques has become a subject of special interest. It is certainly the promising application potential of these effects in new magnetic recording device geometries which causes this intensive research, which is done both by companies and at universities and research institutes. A selection of invited and contributed papers presented at the Symposium and accepted for publication is contained in this volume. The contents of these proceedings are organized into seven sections. A. Nanowires, Nanoparticles, Nanostructuring B. Ultrathin Films and Surfaces, Characterization C. Giant Magnetoresistance D. Coupling, Tunneling E. Growth, Structure, Magnetism F. Growth, Structure, Magnetoresistance G. Coupling, Magnetic processes, Magneto-optics. The first four sections contain invited and oral contributed papers in the listed research domains, while the last three sections contain the contributions presented during three large poster sessions.

Materials Research in thin and ultrathin magnetic structures is a multidisciplinary field which heavily relies on state-of-the-art growth, characterization and theoretical approaches to build a comprehensive physical picture on how magnetic properties depend on interfacial structural issues, interlayer coupling and transport phenomena. Often in this field, the critical properties and characterization required necessitates knowledge of structural and magnetic phenomena extending over several atomic planes. Atomic controlled growth techniques are required and atomic sensitivity is needed from magnetic and structural probes. This critical knowledge is vital for device applications, providing the basis for the synergistic interactions that are predominant in this field of research. This volume is the definitive reference source for anyone interested in the latest advances and results of current experimental research in ultrathin film magnetism.

Magnetic and superconducting materials pervade every avenue of the technological world – from microelectronics and mass-data storage to medicine and heavy engineering. Both areas have experienced a recent revitalisation of interest due to the discovery of new materials, and the re-evaluation of a wide range of basic mechanisms and phenomena.This Concise Encyclopedia draws its material from the award-winning Encyclopedia of Materials and Engineering, and includes updates and revisions not available in the original set -- making it the ideal reference companion for materials scientists and engineers with an interest in magnetic and superconducting materials. - Contains in excess of 130 articles, taken from the award-winning Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology, including ScienceDirect updates not available in the original set - Each article discusses one aspect of magnetic and superconducting materials and includes photographs, line drawings and tables to aid the understanding of the topic at hand - Cross-referencing guides readers to articles covering subjects of related interest

Although there has been steady progress in understanding aspects of epitaxial growth throughout the last 30 years of modern surface science, work in this area has intensified greatly in the last 5 years. A number of factors have contributed to this expansion. One has been the general trend in surface science to tackle problems of increasing complexity as confidence is gained in the methodology, so for example, the role of oxide/metal interfaces in determining the properties of many practical supported catalysts is now being explored in greater detail. A second factor is the recognition of the potential importance of artificial multilayer materials not only in semiconductor devices but also in metal/metal systems because of their novel magnetic properties. Perhaps even more important than either of these application areas, however, is the newly-discovered power of scanning probe microscopies, and most notably scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), to provide the means to study epitaxial growth phenomena on an atomic scale under a wide range of conditions. These techniques have also contributed to revitalised interest in methods of fabricating and exploiting artificial structures (lateral as well as in layers) on a nanometre scale.This volume, on Growth and Properties of Ultrathin Epitaxial Layers, includes a collection of articles which reflects the present state of activity in this field. The emphasis is on metals and oxides rather than semiconductors.

In this volume, the editor and contributors describe the use of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) for a range of key materials systems that are of interest for both technological and fundamental reasons. Prior books on MBE have provided an introduction to the basic concepts and techniques of MBE and emphasize growth and characterization of GaAs-based structures. The aim in this book is somewhat different; it is to demonstrate the versatility of the technique by showing how it can be utilized to prepare and explore a range of distinct and diverse materials. For each of these materials systems MBE has played a key role both in their development and application to devices.

Magnetic and spintronic materials are ubiquitous in modern technological applications, e.g. in electric motors, power generators, sensors and actuators, not to mention information storage and processing. Medical technology has also greatly benefited from magnetic materials – especially magnetic nanoparticles – for therapy and diagnostics methods. All of the above-mentioned applications rely on the properties of the materials used. These properties in turn depend on intrinsic and extrinsic material parameters. The former are related to the actual elements used and their properties, e.g. atomic magnetic moment and exchange interaction between atoms; the latter are related to the structural and microstructural properties of the materials used, e.g. their crystal structure, grain size, and grain boundary phases. Focusing on state-of-the-art magnetic and spintronic materials, this book will introduce readers to a range of related topics in Physics and Materials Science. Phenomena and processes at the nanoscale are of particular importance in this context; accordingly, much of the book addresses such topics.