2017-18 Catalog

Supervised research experience, open only to senior materials science majors. Starting with an open-ended topic, students will plan and execute a project in materials science and engineering that includes written and oral reports based upon actual results, synthesizing topics from their course work. Only the first term may be taken pass/fail.

An introductory laboratory in relationships between the structure and properties of materials. Experiments involve materials processing and characterization by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy. Students will learn techniques for measuring mechanical and electrical properties of materials, as well as how to optimize these properties through microstructural and chemical control. Independent projects may be performed depending on the student's interests and abilities.

The staff in materials science will arrange special courses or problems to meet the needs of students working toward the M.S. degree or of qualified undergraduate students. Graded pass/fail for research and reading.

Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, with emphasis on gases, liquids, materials, and condensed matter. Effects of heat, pressure, and fields on states of matter are presented with both classical thermodynamics and with statistical mechanics. Conditions of equilibrium in systems with multiple degrees of freedom. Applications include ordered states of matter and phase transitions. The three terms cover, approximately, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and phase transitions. APh/MS 105ab not offered 2017-18.

A seminar course designed to introduce advanced undergraduates and graduate students to modern research in materials science.

An introduction to the structure and properties of materials and the processing routes utilized to optimize properties. All major classes of materials are covered, including metals, ceramics, electronic materials, composites, and polymers. The relationships between chemical bonding, crystal structure, thermodynamics, phase equilibria, microstructure, and properties are described.

Introduction to the mechanical behavior of solids, emphasizing the relationships between microstructure, defects, and mechanical properties. Elastic, anelastic, and plastic properties of crystalline and amorphous materials. Polymer and glass properties: viscoelasticity, flow, and strain-rate dependence. The relationships between stress, strain, strain rate, and temperature for deformable solids. Application of dislocation theory to strengthening mechanisms in crystalline solids. The phenomena of creep, fracture, and fatigue, and their controlling mechanisms.

Experimental methods in transmission electron microscopy of inorganic materials including diffraction, spectroscopy, conventional imaging, high resolution imaging and sample preparation. Weekly laboratory exercises to complement material in MS 132.

Electronic structure and orbitals in atoms. Structure and symmetry of crystals. Reciprocal space and Brillouin zone. Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Bloch states and band theory. Tight binding and plane-waves. Lattice vibrations and lattice waves. Total energy, entropy, and Gibbs free energy in solids. Stability criteria. Bonding and electronic structure in metals, semiconductors, ionic crystals, and transition metal oxides. Point and line defects. Introduction to surfaces and amorphous materials.

Principles of electron, X-ray, and neutron diffraction with applications to materials characterization. Imaging with electrons, and diffraction contrast of crystal defects. Kinematical theory of diffraction: effects of strain, size, disorder, and temperature. Correlation functions in solids, with introduction to space-time correlation functions.

Kinetic master equation, uncorrelated and correlated random walk, diffusion. Mechanisms of diffusion and atom transport in solids, liquids, and gases. Coarsening of microstructures. Nonequilibrium processing of materials.

Content will vary from year to year, but will be at a level suitable for advanced undergraduate or graduate students. Topics are chosen according to the interests of students and faculty. Visiting faculty may present portions of the course.

The mechanical response of brittle materials (ceramics, glasses and some network polymers) will be treated using classical elasticity, energy criteria, and fracture mechanics. The influence of environment and microstructure on mechanical behavior will be explored. Transformation toughened systems, large-grain crack-bridging systems, nanostructured ceramics, porous ceramics, anomolous glasses, and the role of residual stresses will be highlighted. Strength, flaw statistics and reliability will be discussed.

The staff in materials science will arrange special courses or problems to meet the needs of advanced graduate students.

The course will cover first-principles computational methods to study electronic structure, lattice vibrations, optical properties, and charge and heat transport in materials. Topics include: Theory and practice of Density Functional Theory (DFT) and the total-energy pseudopotential method. DFT calculations of total energy, structure, defects, charge density, bandstructures, density of states, ferroelectricity and magnetism. Lattice vibrations using the finite-difference supercell and Density Functional Perturbation Theory (DFPT) methods. Electron-electron interactions, screening, and the GW method. GW bandstructure calculations. Optical properties, excitons, and the GW-Bethe Salpeter equation method. Ab initio Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) for electrons and phonons. Computations of heat and charge transport within the BTE framework. If time permits, selected advanced topics will be covered, including methods to treat vander Waals bonds, spin-orbit coupling, correlated materials, and quantum dynamics. Several laboratories will give students direct experience with running first-principles calculations.

The course gives a broad overview of micromechanics, emphasizing the microstructure of materials, its connection to molecular structure, and its consequences on macroscopic properties. Topics include phase transformations in crystalline solids, including martensitic, ferroelectric, and diffusional phase transformations, twinning and domain patterns, active materials; effective properties of composites and polycrystals, linear and nonlinear homogenization; defects, including dislocations, surface steps, and domain walls; thin films, asymptotic methods, morphological instabilities, self-organization; selected applications to microactuation, thin-film processing, composite materials, mechanical properties, and materials design. Open to undergraduates with instructor's permission.