Materials Science and Technology

Volume 9 of this series attempts to present the principal aspects of glasses and amorphous materials both from the fundamental and applied viewpoints. Chapter 1 introduces traditional glass technology and presents its historical evolution marked by the emergence of different methods of melting and forming glasses. A substantial section is devoted to the problem of fining and the quantitative calculation of silicate-based glass compositions for various practical applications. Chapter 2 contains a complementary description of other methods of obtaining non-crystalline materials. Most of the techniques presented here are used in the case of sophisticated "new glasses". Chapter 3 presents the theoretical side of the problem of vitrification based on nucleation theories and describes the relaxational aspects of glassy materials. Chapter 4 treats the structural models of disordered materials, emphasizing methods using diffraction of x-rays and neutrons. (This chapter complements the topics treated in volume 1 of this series). Chapter 5 gives a traditional description of glasses based on various oxide systems and discusses the effects of compositional changes.
Chapter 6 presents the modification of the preceding glasses brought about by modern ion-implantation techniques - this is an important topic, especially for "new glasses", in veiw of their use in electronic and opto-electronic devices. Chapter 7 provides an extensive treatment of chalcogenide glasses. The fundamentals of electronic properties of disordered materials are assembled here, together with principal spectroscopies, and main electronic and optical applications. Chapter 8 is devoted to halide glasses which are promising candidates for optical fibers because of their low attenuation properties. Chapter 9 presents some aspects of metallic glasses, principally their diffusional properties, and introduces various applications. (Complementary topics are treated in volumes 1 and 15 of this series). Chapter 10 describes various glass-like carbon materials and discusses the methods of synthesis used in industry. Chapter 11 presents thermodynamic, kinetic and experimental aspects of molecular-type organic glasses and constitutes a complement to Chapters 3 and 5. A substantial section is devoted to relaxational spectroscopies.
Chapter 12 treats optical properties, an important aspect of glass science, covering not only current optics but also more sophisticated aspects (lasers and opto-electronic applications).