Publisher's Synopsis
The electro-ceramist must cultivate, at an appropriate level, a quantitative understanding of the basic science of a wide range of physical properties of solids, including conductive, dielectric, optical, piezoelectric and magnetic. The understanding must embrace how the science of ceramics can be exploited to optimize properties, not only through the design of material composition, but also through the tailoring of microstructure and texture. Because the objective is an improved component for some particular function - a capacitor, thermistor, fuel cell, battery, microwave filter, chemical sensor, actuator, etc. - there has to be an intelligent appreciation of the significance of the various relevant properties to the particular application, and how to 'engineer' the material to optimize them. This is well illustrated by the piezoceramic-polymer composites for ultrasound transducers, pyroelectric materials for infrared detectors and imaging systems, and thin film ceramics for random access memories. Their development demands an interplay between the basic sciences, electronic engineering and materials science, or better, 'materials engineering' - a term increasingly encountered. Not surprisingly, most of the available texts concentrate on one or other of the relevant basic solid state science, the ceramics science and technology, or on component applications; the other two aspects receiving only superficial coverage. The nearest to what might be seen as offering interdisciplinary treatments are edited contributions from specialists in various topics. Whilst these are valuable they may present difficulties to the undergraduate and newcomer to the field. There are plenty of specialist papers but they are mostly published for the benefit of those well-grounded in their subjects and capable of a balanced and critical appreciation. Ceramic and Glass Materials: Structure, Properties and Processing, helps provide this by introducing the interrelationships between the structure, properties, processing, design concepts, and applications of advanced ceramics. This student-friendly edition effectively links fundamentals and fabrication requirements to a wide range of interesting engineering application examples.
