This book presents the status quo of the structure, preparation, properties and applications of tetrahedrally bonded amorphous carbon (ta-C) films and compares them with related film systems. Tetrahedrally bonded amorphous carbon films (ta-C) combine some of the outstanding properties of diamond with the versatility of amorphous materials. The book compares experimental results with the predictions of theoretical analyses, condensing them to practicable rules. It is strictly application oriented, emphasizing the exceptional potential of ta-C for tribological coatings of tools and components.

Diamond-like carbon is amorphous carbon with a high degree of sp3 bonding, and is widely used for hard coatings and field emission cathodes. This book contains reviews by leading workers in the field, covering the topics of deposition methods, deposition mechanisms, atomic structure, surface atomic structure, electronic structure calculations, Raman, doping, luminescence, electron field emission, mechanical properties and tribology.

Diamond is an extreme material among possible atomic aggregations in nature, and as such has many extreme properties. This unique position makes it a fascinating subject both for science and for applications. This has been particularly true in recent years, since the surprising discovery at Union Carbide (1953) of the possibility of chemical vapour deposition of diamond films at low pressures, where diamond is metastable with respect to graphite. This discovery cleared the way to the development of economical deposition techniques that have been obtaining progressively better-quality diamond, both pure and doped, in a controlled way and for a variety of applications. The remarkable properties and applications range from mechanical (the extreme hardness, tensile and compressive strength, wear performance) to thermal (the highest conductivity), optical (wide range of transparency), chemical (inertness to most chemicals), biological (biocompatibility) and electronic (high electronic carrier mobility, large band gap and dielectric breakdown strength, negative electron affinity), with the simultaneous presence of so many extraordinary qualities often resulting in added value for a given application.We are presently at a turning point in the development of diamond physics and applications. While some achievements can be considered well established, on the other hand, new opportunities and challenges are facing the scientific community, particularly with regard to novel exciting deposition processes and techniques or new properties and applications in electronics. This Enrico Fermi Course on "The Physics of Diamond" is particularly focused on the new developments and prospects, which may well constitute a reference point for a new generation of scientists at what may possibly be the beginning of a new age in diamond. The course attracted several of the most distinguished experts in the field as lecturers and an audience of almost as distinguished students and observers from 19 countries. Participation and discussions were lively to the very last day, ranging from traditional diamond physics to new diamond physics, and from well-known applications to the new exciting opportunities.The material in this volume is organized in the following way: the first part (13 lectures) is essentially devoted to growth and structure, the second part to properties and applications, with a closing lecture exploring new exotic diamonds in the distant future. The earlier lectures extensively cover the many processes of plasma chemical vapour deposition, including advanced contributions in theoretical modelling of these processes. Novel deposition mechanisms are considered: low-temperature CVD and laser-activated processes, including the so-called QQC experiments. This first part closes with a discussion of amorphous phases. In the second part, particular emphasis is placed on electronic properties and applications. This includes an extensive discussion of doping and, in addition, the promising perspectives of diamond as an electron emitter. Its newly discovered remarkable electron affinity properties lead to a new dimension in research and development, of great strategical importance for an increasing role of diamond in electronics.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of low-energy ion–solid interaction from basic principles to advanced applications in materials science. It features a balanced and insightful approach to the fundamentals of the low-energy ion–solid surface interaction, focusing on relevant topics such as interaction potentials, kinetics of binary collisions, ion range, radiation damages, and sputtering. Additionally, the book incorporates key updates reflecting the latest relevant results of modern research on topics such as topography evolution and thin-film deposition under ion bombardment, ion beam figuring and smoothing, generation of nanostructures, and ion beam-controlled glancing angle deposition. Filling a gap of almost 20 years of relevant research activity, this book offers a wealth of information and up-to-date results for graduate students, academic researchers, and industrial scientists working in these areas.

The inspiration for this book came from an American Carbon Society Workshop entitled "Carbon Materials for Advanced Technologies" which was hosted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1994. Chapter 1 contains a review of carbon materials, and emphasizes the structure and chemical bonding in the various forms of carbon, including the four allotropes diamond, graphite, carbynes, and the fullerenes. In addition, amorphous carbon and diamond films, carbon nanoparticles, and engineered carbons are discussed. The most recently discovered allotrope of carbon, i.e., the fullerenes, along with carbon nanotubes, are more fully discussed in Chapter 2, where their structure-property relations are reviewed in the context of advanced technologies for carbon based materials. The synthesis, structure, and properties of the fullerenes and nanotubes, and modification of the structure and properties through doping, are also reviewed. Potential applications of this new family of carbon materials are considered.The manufacture and applications of adsorbent carbon fibers are discussed in Chapter 3. The manufacture, structure and properties of high performance fibers are reviewed in Chapter 4, and the manufacture and properties of vapor grown fibers and their composites are reported in Chapter 5. The properties and applications of novel low density composites developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are reported in Chapter 6.Coal is an important source of energy and an abundant source of carbon. The production of engineering carbons and graphite from coal via a solvent extraction route is described in Chapter 7. Applications of activated carbons are discussed in Chapters 8-10, including their use in the automotive arena as evaporative loss emission traps (Chapter 8), and in vehicle natural gas storage tanks (Chapter 9). The application of activated carbons in adsorption heat pumps and refrigerators is discussed in Chapter 10. Chapter 11 reports the use of carbon materials in the fast growing consumer electronics application of lithium-ion batteries. The role of carbon materials in nuclear systems is discussed in Chapters 12 and 13, where fusion device and fission reactor applications, respectively, are reviewed. In Chapter 12 the major technological issues for the utilization of carbon as a plasma facing material are discussed in the context of current and future fusion tokamak devices.The essential design features of graphite moderated reactors, (including gas-, water- and molten salt-cooled systems) are reviewed in Chapter 13, and reactor environmental effects such as radiation damage and radiolytic corrosion are discussed. The fracture behaviour of graphite is discussed in qualitative and quantitative terms in Chapter 14. The applications of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics and Elastic-Plastic Fracture Mechanics to graphite are reviewed and a study of the role of small flaws in nuclear graphites is reported.

World experts in amorphous carbon have been drawn together to produce this comprehensive commentary on the current state and future prospects of amorphous carbon, a highly functional material. Amorphous carbon has a wide range of properties that are primarily controlled by the different bond hybridisations possible in such materials. This allows for the growth of an extensive range of thin films that can be tailored for specific applications. Films can range from those with high transparency and which are hard and diamond-like, through to those which are opaque, soft and graphitic-like. Application areas including field emission cathodes, MEMs, electronic devices, medical and optical coatings are now close to market.

This book is a comprehensive introduction on infrared anti-transparent materials and their applications in anti-reflective and protective coatings. Optical, mechanical and thermal properties and preparations of various kinds of films, such as amorphous diamond films, germanium carbide films, boron phosphide films, alumina films and yttrium oxide film are discussed in detail making it suitable for material scientists and industrial engineers.

This proceedings volume contains the contributions of the speakers who attended the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Perspectives, Science and Technologies for Novel Silicon on Insulator Devices" held at the Sanatorium Pushcha OLema, Kyiv, th Ukraine from It" to 15 October 1998. This meeting was the second NATO Silicon on Insulator (SOl) Workshop to be held in st the Ukraine where the first meeting (Gurzuf, Crimea, 1 to 4th November 1994) focussed upon the physical and technical problems to be addressed in order to exploit the advantages of incorporating SOl materials in device and sensor technologies. On this occasion emphasis was placed upon firstly, promoting the use of SOl substrates for a range of novel device and circuit applications and secondly, addressing the economic issues of incorporating SOl processing technologies and device technologies within the framework of the resources available within the laboratories and factories of the Newly Independent States (NIS). The primary goal of both workshops has been the breaking of the barriers that inhibit closer collaboration between scientists and engineers in the NATO countries and the NIS. Indeed, it was a pleasure for attendees at the first meeting to renew acquaintances and for the first time attendees to make new contacts and enjoy the warm hospitality offered by our hosts in Kyiv. An outcome was the forging of new links and concrete proposals for future collaborations.

There is a major international interest in thin film materials and devices, Future Directions in Thin Film Science and Technology stimulated by important current and projected applications in many areas of information technology and other fields, constitutes the proceedings of the Ninth International School on Condensed Matter Physics. It features invited review articles by over 40 scientists of international repute, covering many aspects of thin film science and technology. Also included is a broad selection of shorter contributed papers by other participants, describing results of their recent research.The book will be of interest to postgraduate students and established scientists involved in the fabrication, characterisation, and applications of thin film materials and devices. The invited reviews will also be of value to final year undergraduates in physics, materials science, and electronic engineering studying many areas of contemporary solid state technology.