Elements of Structures and Defects of Crystalline Materials has been written to cover not only the fundamental principles behind structures and defects, but also to provide deep insights into understanding the relationships of properties, defect chemistry and processing of the concerned materials. Part One deals with structures, while Part Two covers defects. Since the knowledge of the electron configuration of elements is necessary for understanding the nature of chemical bonding, it is discussed in the opening chapter. Chapter Two then describes the bonding formation within the crystal structures of varied materials, with Chapter Three delving into how a material's structure is formed.
In view of the importance of the effects of the structure distortion on the material properties due to the fields, the related topics have been included in section 3.4. Moreover, several materials still under intensive investigation have been illustrated to provide deep insights into understanding the effects of the relationships of processing, structures and defects on the material properties.
The defects of materials are explored in Part II. Chapter 4 deals with the point defects of metal and ceramics. Chapter 5 covers the fundamentals of the characteristics of dislocations, wherein physics and the atomic mechanics of several issues have been described in detail. In view of the significant influence of the morphologies including size, shape and distribution of grains, phases on the microstructure evolution, and, in turn, the properties of materials, the final chapter focuses on the fundamentals of interface energies, including single phase (grain) boundary and interphase boundary.
Fang, Tsang-Tse: - Tsang-Tse Fang received the B.E. degree in Dept. of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Taiwan, the M. E degree in Institute of Mineral and Materials Science, NCKU, Taiwan, and Ph.D. degrees in Dept. of Materials Engineering, North Carolina State University, U.S.A. in 1985. Since February 1986, he has been with Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, NCKU, Taiwan, where he was an Associate Professor, and became a Professor in 1991. In 2006, he was honored as a distinguished professor. He was a visiting associate professor, Materials Research Lab., Penn. State University, U. S. A. from 1989 to 1990), joining the research concerning smart materials and a visiting scientist, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U. S. A. from 1994 to 1995. His major research areas include: (i) ceramic processing: powder synthesis, forming, and sintering involving defect chemistry and microstructural evolution, and (ii) physical properties of electronic ceramics: dielectrics, ferroelectricity, electrical conduction (involving lithium-ion battery), magnetism, superconductivity, magnetoelectronics, thermoelectricity and multiferroics. In 1993, he received outstanding research award from National Science Council Taiwan. He was an Editor of the International Scholarly Research Network (ISRN Ceramics) until 2012. Presently he is an adjunct professor of Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, NCKU, and an associate editor of journal of electronic materials, U.S.A.
