New advanced materials are being rapidly developed, thanks to the progress of science. These are making our daily life more convenient. The Institute for Materials Research (IMR) at Tohoku University has greatly contributed for to the creation and development of various advanced materials and the progress in the ?eld of material science for almost a century. For example, our early research achievements on the physical metallurgy of iron carbon alloys led to the innovation of technology for making high-quality steels, which has greatly contributed to the advancement of the steel and related industry in Japan and rest of the world. IMR has focused on basic research that can be translated into applications in the future, for the bene?t of mankind. With this tradition, we have established the ?rst high-magnetic ?eld as well as low-temperature technologies in Japan, which were essential to the - vancement of magnetism and superconductivity. Recently, IMR has expanded its research in the ?eld of advanced materials including metallic glasses, - ramics, nano-structural metals, semiconductors, solar cell crystals, new op- andspin-electronicsmaterials,organicmaterials,hydrogenstoragealloys,and shaped crystals. Inthefaceofthecrisisofthedestructionoftheglobalenvironment,the- pletion of world-wide natural resources, and the exhaustion of energy sources in the twenty-?rst century, we all have an acute/serious desire for a b- ter/safer world in the future. IMR has been and will continue the pursuit of research aimed at solving global problems and furthering eco-friendly dev- opment.

This book covers recent progress in advanced materials research as reviewed by forefront researchers in contributions which would also be suitable for researchers and postgraduates in a related field. It starts with comprehensive reviews of exotic materials for electronic devices, such as wide gap semiconductors and organic materials. They are followed by recent topics on eco- and bio-friendly materials, which attract more and more attention in the materials research community. Atomic scale characterization and control of nanostructured materials are discussed in later chapters that review the general possibilities for precise control of structures and properties in the developments of advanced materials.

Contenu
Novel Materials for Electronics.- Science, for the Benefit of Mankind.- Trends of Condensed Matter Science: A Personal View.- Measurements and Mechanisms of Single-Molecule Conductance Switching.- Exploration of Oxide Semiconductor Electronics Through Parallel Synthesis of Epitaxial Thin Films.- Epitaxial Growth and Transport Properties of High-Mobility ZnO-Based Heterostructures.- A Scaling Behavior of Anomalous Hall Effect in Cobalt Doped TiO2.- Synthesis, Phase Diagram, and Evolution of Electronic Properties in LixZrNCl Superconductors.- Ambipolar Tetraphenylpyrene (TPPy) Single-Crystal Field-Effect Transistor with Symmetric and Asymmetric Electrodes.- Bulk Zinc Oxide and Gallium Nitride Crystals by Solvothermal Techniques.- Materials for Ecological and Biological Systems.- High-Quality Si Multicrystals with Same Grain Orientation and Large Grain Size by the Newly Developed Dendritic Casting Method for High-Efficiency Solar Cell Applications.- Growth of High-Quality Polycrystalline Si Ingot with Same Grain Orientation by Using Dendritic Casting Method.- Floating Cast Method as a New Growth Method of Silicon Bulk Multicrystals for Solar Cells.- Dehydriding Reaction of Hydrides Enhanced by Microwave Irradiation.- Mechanically Multifunctional Properties and Microstructure of New Beta-Type Titanium Alloy, Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr, for Biomedical Applications.- Precise Control of Microscopic and Complex Systems.- Atom Probe Tomography at The University of Sydney.- A Study on Age Hardening in Cu-Ag Alloys by Transmission Electron Microscopy.- Rubber-Like Entropy Elasticity of a Glassy Alloy [1].- Formation and Mechanical Properties of Bulk Glassy and Quasicrystalline Alloys in Zr-Al-Cu-Ti System.- Fabrication and Characterization of Metallic Glassy Matrix Composite Reinforced with ZrO2 Particulate by Spark Plasma Sintering Process.- Nucleation and Growth of Thin Pentacene Films Studied by LEEM and STM.- Mechanism of Chiral Growth of 6, 13-Pentacenequinone Films on Si (111).- GaN Integration on Si via Symmetry-Converted Silicon-on-Insulator.- Functional Probes for Scanning Probe Microscopy.