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Seminar by L. David Pye |
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Date: May 3, 2005
Time: 3:30pm
Location: NIA, Rm 303
Speaker: L. David Pye, The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University
Subject: "Introduction to Non-crystalline Solids"
The field of materials science can be divided most broadly into two major classifications:
crystalline and non-crystalline solids, or glasses as they are sometimes called. The latter especially have played an extraordinary role in the development of mankind and society over the last two millennia. They have figured prominently, and sometimes revolutionary, in advancing communication, medicine, housing, transportation, lighting, documentation, entertainment, etc, and the sciences in general including biology, chemistry, physics, photography, and even astronomy. Because of their remarkable flexibility in composition, methods of fabrication and properties, they have found, and continue to find, applications throughout nearly all segments of society as we know it today. With these thoughts in mind, this lecture will review the fundamental essence of non-crystalline solids from a perspective of atomic structure, chemical bonding, method of fabrication, and thermodynamic description in terms of the formal theory of phase equilibria. This approach leads naturally into a discussion of the properties of non-crystalline solids and their dependence on composition and thermal history. Natural glasses are also briefly discussed including their role in planetary and geological phenomena and the development of new materials including photonic crystals.
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