Symposium A

Welcome

Prof. Yves M. Pauleau - Symposium Chairman

Programme

The fundamental properties of materials, coatings and thin films are remarkably altered as the size of their constituent grains decreases to a nanometer scale. Novel nanostructured (made of nanosized grains or building blocks) and composite (formed by clusters embedded in matrices) coatings or thin films offer unique and entirely different mechanical, tribological, electrical, optical, catalytic, dielectric and magnetic properties compared with conventional micrometer or millimeter-size materials or films owing to their distinct size, shape, morphology, topology, surface and interface chemistry. For instance, the nanosized grains, which can be made of metal, carbide, nitride or oxide phase are embedded in an amorphous carbon or silicon dioxide matrix.

Several major research and development programs devoted to nanostructured composite films encompass diverse aspects including synthesis, processing and fabrication technologies, spectroscopic characterization, physico-chemical properties, structure-property relationships and future applications in various fields (aerospace, automobile, cutting tools, catalysts, batteries, sensors, micro- and opto-electronics, modulators, transducers solar cells, medical implants, etc.).

A strong specificity is associated with the mechanisms and methods of deposition as well as with the characterization techniques of functional properties of nanostructured composite films dedicated to various advanced technologies. The synthesis and characterization of this novel generation of films remain difficult in spite of recent advances. However, potential applications are now more or less precisely defined and start to arise in a variety of cutting edge technologies.

The major aim of this symposium is to offer an overview and a forum on the recent advances in the interdisciplinary field of nanostructured composite films. Researchers and engineers from different disciplines of science and engineering will be brought together to share their knowledge and expertise on these novel films involved in various emerging applications.

The symposium will address progress in the development and applications of coatings and thin films as active components where their nanostructure, morphology and composition enhance the physico-chemical properties or ensure specific properties. Papers are solicited on topics corresponding to one or more of the following areas : (1) the preparation of films by sputtering, activated reactive evaporation, ion plating, chemical vapor deposition, plasma-assisted deposition, pulsed laser ablation and hybrid techniques, (2) the advanced techniques for the characterization of the microstructure, morphology, size of particles embedded in the matrix, (3) the application of nanostructured composite films to enhance the mechanical, tribological, dielectric, optical, catalytic and magnetic properties of devices.

The specific topics covered by the symposium include diverse aspects related to nanostructured composite films :
1) synthesis, growth mechanisms and modeling
2) characterization of films
3) mechanical and tribological properties
4) electrical and dielectric properties
5) optical properties
6) catalytic properties
7) magnetic properties
8) applications for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and sensors
9) applications for optical devices
10) biological and biomedical applications

Scientific Committee:

G. Abadias (France), M. Benlahsen (France), I. Bertoti (Hungary), M.-P. Besland (France), H. Biederman (Czech Republic), N.J.M. Carvalho (Belgium), M. Cekada (Slovenia), K. Cooke (U.K.), I. Dahan (Israel), G. Dennler (Austria), X. De La Fuente (Spain), M. Farle (Germany), A. Galdikas (Lithuania), A. Gonzalez-Elipe (Spain), H. Hofsäss (Germany), U. Jansson (Sweden), W. Kautek (Austria), S. Kennou (Greece), H. Klostermann (Germany), Z. Kutnjak (Slovenia), N. Laidani (Italy), D. Leinen (Spain), M. Leonowicz (Poland), P. Lobotka (Slovakia), S. Logothetidis (Greece), J.C. Lopez (Spain), B. Major (Poland), A. Matthews (U.K.), F. Maury (France), C. Meunier (France), T.-P. Nguyen (France), S. Novak (Czech Republic), P. Oelhafen (Switzerland), K. Oskomov (Russia), E. Pascual (Spain), L. Poperenko (Ukraine), N. Radic (Croatia), J.-P. Rivière (France), R. Sanjines (Switzerland), A. Savan (Germany), A. Schüler (Switzerland), M. Stüber (Germany), S. Tamulevicius (Lithuania), V. Teixeira (Portugal), P.-Y. Tessier (France), S. Zhang (Singapore)

Invited speakers:

• D. Babonneau (University of Poitiers, France): "Growth, structure, and properties of metallic nanoclusters in dielectric films produced by ion-beam sputtering"
• M. Balden (Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Garching bei München, Germany: "Indentation testing of thermally nanostructured metal-containing carbon films"
• A. Cavaleiro (University of Coimbra, Portugal): "Nanocomposite transition metal-dichalcogenides sputtered self-lubricating coatings alloyed with carbon"
• I. Efeoglu (Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey): "Mechanical and tribological properties of multilayered-composite solid lubricant films"
• F. Gonella (University of Venice, Italy): "Metal nanocluster composite silicate glasses"
• P.C. Kelires (University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece): "Simulations of nanocomposite carbon films"
• G. Kiriakidis (University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece): "Nanostructured metal oxide thin films for gas sensors"
• P.J. Kulesza (Department of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Poland): "Electrocatalysis and bioelectrocatalysis at nanostructured composite films"
• S. Mathur (Leibniz-Institut für Neue Materialien, Saarbruecken, Germany): "Nanostructured oxide films produced by chemical vapor deposition"

Organisers

• Prof. Yves M. Pauleau, National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble, CNRS-LEMD, Grenoble, France - Symposium Chairman
• W. Gulbinski, The Technical University of Koszalin, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Dep. of Physics, Koszalin, Poland
• P. Patsalas, University of Ioannina, Dep. of Materials Science and Engineering, Ioannina, Greece

Proceedings

The manuscripts submitted to this symposium and accepted on the basis of the referee procedure adopted for regular papers would be published in the international scientific journal "Reviews on Advanced Materials Science".

Contact

Web site address is: http://www.e-mrs.org/meetings/fall2006/A.html

Yves PAULEAU
National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble
CNRS - LEMD
25 Rue des Martyrs
B.P. 166
38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
Tel : +33-476-881071
Fax : +33-476-887945
E-mail : [email protected]

Witold GULBINSKI
The Technical University of Koszalin
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Physics
75-620 Koszalin, Poland
Tel : +48-94-347-8227
Fax : +48-94-342-6753
[email protected]

Panos PATSALAS
University of Ioannina
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
45110 Ioannina, Greece
Tel : +30 26510 97146
Fax : +30 26510 98673
[email protected]