Capillary Forces in Microassembly discusses the use of capillary forces as a gripping principle in microscale assembly. Clearly written and well-organized, this text brings together physical concepts at the microscale with practical applications in micromanipulation. Throughout this work, the reader will find a review of the existing gripping principles, elements to model capillary forces as well as descriptions of the simulation and experimental test bench developed to study the design parameters. Using well-known concepts from surface science (such as surface tension, capillary effects, wettability, and contact angles) as inputs to mechanical models, the amount of effort required to handle micro-components is predicted. These developments are then applied in a case study concerning the pick and place of balls in a watch ball bearing.

Surface physics in the classical sense of ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) based - perimental approaches to understand well-de?ned surfaces has now become a mature branch of condensed matter research. Meanwhile, however, the th- retical concepts and experimental techniques developed in this ?eld have also become the basis for modern interface, thin ?lm and nanostructure science. Furthermore, these research ?elds are of fundamental importance for more applied branches of science, such as micro- and nanoelectronics, catalysis and corrosion research, surface protection, chemo- and biosensors, microsystems and nanostructured materials.

The aim of this book is twofold: it is intended for use as a textbook for a ~ourse on electronic materials (indeed, it stems from a series of lectures on this topic delivered at Milan Polytechnic and at the universities of Modena and Parma), and as an up-to-date review for scientists working in the field ::>f silicon processing. Although a number of works on silicon are already available, the vast amount of existing and new data on silicon properties are nowhere adequately summarized in a single comprehensive report. The present volume is intended to fill this gap. Most of the examples dealt with are taken from the authors' every­ day experience, this choice being dictated merely by their greater knowl­ edge of these areas. Certain aspects of the physics of silicon have not been included; this is either because they have been treated in standard textbooks (e.g. the inhomogeneously doped semiconductor and the chem­ istry of isotropic or preferential aqueous etching of silicon), or because they are still in a rapidly evolving phase (e.g. silicon band-gap engineering, generation-recombination phenomena, cryogenic properties and the chem­ istry of plasma etching). In line with the standard practice in microelectronics, CGS units will be used for mechanical and thermal quantities, and SI units for electrical quan­ tities. All atomic energies will be given in electronvolts and the angstrom will be the unit of length used for atomic phenomena.

This handbook provides a comprehensive review of the entire field of laser micro and nano processing, including not only a detailed introduction to individual laser processing techniques but also the fundamentals of laser-matter interaction and lasers, optics, equipment, diagnostics, as well as monitoring and measurement techniques for laser processing. Consisting of 11 sections, each composed of 4 to 6 chapters written by leading experts in the relevant field. Each main part of the handbook is supervised by its own part editor(s) so that high-quality content as well as completeness are assured.

In a liquid crystal watch, the molecules contained within a thin film of the screen are reorientated each second by extremely weak electrical signals. Here is a fine example of soft matter: molecular systems giving a strong response to a very weak command signal. They can be found almost everywhere. Soft magnetic materials used in transformers exhibit a strong magnetic moment under the action of a weak magnetic field. Take a completely different domain: gelatin, formed from col­ lagen fibres dissolved in hot water. When we cool below 37°C, gelation occurs, the chains joining up at various points to form a loose and highly deformable network. This is a natural example of soft matter. Going further, rather than consider a whole network, we could take a single chain of flexible polymer, such as polyoxyethylene [POE = (CH CH O)N, 2 2 5 where N rv 10 ], for example, in water. Such a chain is fragile and may break under flow. Even though hydrodynamic forces are very weak on the molecular scale, their cumulated effect may be significant. Think of a rope pulled from both ends by two groups of children. Even if each girl and boy cannot pull very hard, the rope can be broken when there are enough children pulling.

Writing a textbook is an undertaking that requires strong motivation, strong enough to carry out almost two years of solid work in this case. My motivation arose from three sources. The first was the ever-increasing pressure of our German administration on research institutions and individuals to divert time and attention from the pursuit of research into achieving politically determined five-year plans and milestones. The challenge of writing a textbook helped me to maintain my integrity as a scientist and served as an escape. A second source of motivation lay in my attempt to understand transport pr- esses at the solid/electrolyte interface within the framework of concepts developed for solid surfaces in vacuum. These concepts provide logical connections between the properties of single atoms and large ensembles of atoms by describing the physics on an ever-coarser mesh. The transfer to the solid/electrolyte interface proved nontrivial, the greatest obstacle being that terms such as surface tension denote different quantities in surface physics and electrochemistry. Furthermore, I came to realize that not infrequently identical quantities and concepts carry diff- ent names in the two disciplines. I felt challenged by the task of bringing the two worlds together. Thus a distinct feature of this volume is that, wherever approp- ate, it treats surfaces in vacuum and in an electrolyte side-by-side. The final motivation unfolded during the course of the work itself.

The investigation of the physical properties of matter has progressed so much during the last hundred years that today physics is divided into a large group of special branches, which are often very distant from each other. These branches arise because of the vast extent of the science itself, and are distinguished by the particular area studied, the method of investigation and so on. An independent and important branch that has developed recently is the physics of thin films. This deals with systems which have only one common property, namely, that one of their dimensions is very small, though all other physical properties of such systems may be different, as well as methods of investigating them. Usually, we investigate the physical characteristics of three-dimensional bodies. Their characteristic prop::!rties are often related to a unit volume, i.e. it is assumed that they are volume-independent. This assumption is legitimate as long as the dimensions are 'normal', i.e. more or less within macroscopic limits; but as soon as one dimension becomes so small that there is a considerable increase in a surface-to-volume ratio, that assumption is no longer valid.

An authoritative and comprehensive reference relevant to all scientists and engineers in the field. This encyclopedia not only helps chemistry, materials science and physics researchers to understand the principles, but also provides practicing engineers with the necessary information for implementing practical applications, such as:

This book provides an exhaustive overview of a class of materials with distinct mechanical and corrosion resistance properties: superaustenitic stainless steels. It strives to fill the gap in the literature on these materials by offering a comprehensive overview based on the author's experience in the metallurgical industry and by organizing information from the available literature. Topics are presented in a structured and detailed manner, accompanied by images and graphs created specifically for this book, including original material like optical micrographs Special attention is also given to cultural-historical aspects that are often overlooked but are critical for understanding the characteristics of the material. Superaustenitic stainless steels (SASSs) take the characteristics of austenitics to the extreme for maximum performance and feature a complex chemical composition of high Cr, Ni, Mo, and N content. The book is divided into four parts: an introduction to stainless steels, a chapter on the specific metallurgy of SASSs, a section on mechanical, physical, and corrosion resistance properties, and a chapter on production technologies, processing, and uses. It also includes extended appendices on the effects of alloying elements in steels and on the characteristics of the phases found in stainless steels. The book is addressed to a wide audience, from university students to professionals and consultants in the field who need literature support to innovate on materials and production processes.

This book discusses research and development on various degradation types and their mitigation approaches in electrochemical energy storage and conversion (EESC) devices, such as fuel cells, batteries, and supercapacitors, essential to realizing carbon neutrality and a sustainable energy economy. Corrosion and degradation of the components remains a major threat to EESC devices' long-term durability, and at present there is an insufficient number of book-length treatments of this topic. This volume brings together the most up-to-date findings from the research literature.

This book presents the proceedings of the 5th International Tribology Symposium of IFToMM (ITS-IFToMM 2024), held in Salerno, Italy, on May 6th-8th, 2024, jointly with the 9th AIT (Italian Tribology Association) Workshop “Tribology and Industry”. It includes peer-reviewed papers on the latest advances in tribology, discussing topics such as friction, wear, lubrication, lubricants, biotribology, tribomaterials, solid lubricants, surface engineering, tribotesting, tribological design and optimization of machine components, modeling in tribology, contact mechanics, micro/nanotribology, tribology in power generating systems, metal working tribology, tribology in road transport and tribology in medicine. A valuable, up-to-date resource, it offers an essential overview of the subject for scientists and practitioners alike and inspires further investigations and research.

This book mainly focuses on the investigation of the electric-field control of magnetism and spin-dependent transportation based on a Co40Fe40B20(CoFeB)/Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.7Ti0.3O3(PMN-PT) multiferroic heterostructure. Methods of characterization and analysis of the multiferroic properties with in situ electric fields are induced to detect the direct magnetoelectric (ME) coupling. A switchable and non-volatile electric field control of magnetization in CoFeB/PMN-PT(001) structures is observed at room temperature, and the mechanism of direct coupling between the ferroelectric domain and ferromagnetic film due to the combined action of 109° ferroelastic domain switching in PMN-PT and the absence of magnetocrystalline anisotropy in CoFeB is demonstrated. Moreover, the electric-field control of giant magnetoresistance is achieved in a CoFeB-based spin valve deposited on top of (011) oriented PMN-PT, which offers an avenue for implementing electric-writing and magnetic-reading random access memory at room temperature. Readers will learn the basic properties of multiferroic materials, many useful techniques related to characterizing multiferroics and the interesting ME effect in CoFeB/PMN-PT structures, which is significant for applications.

Since 2004 the Springer Handbook of Nanotechnology has established itself as the definitive reference in the Nanoscience field. It integrates the knowledge from nanofabrication, nanomechanics, materials science, and reliability engineering in just one volume. Reflecting further developments, the new edition has grown from six to eight parts and from 38 to 58 chapters. Existing chapters have been thoroughly updated and new material has been added to cover developing fields such as bionanotechnology, nanorobotics, and NEMS/MEMS reliability. This classic reference book addresses mechanical and electrical engineers, materials scientists, physicists and chemists who work either in the nano area or in a field that is or will be influenced by this new key technology.

This book focuses on the growth of nanomaterials as thin films. It covers the recent development of thin films using different techniques, such as electrodeposition.

This volume presents a comprehensive exploration of the intricacies of memory design, delving into the challenges and advanced techniques involved in optimizing power consumption, performance, reliability, and data integrity.