Materials science





Materials science includes those parts of chemistry, physics, geology, and
even biology that deal with the physical properties of materials. It is
usually considered an applied science, in which the properties under study
have some industrial purpose.

Materials science encompasses all classes of materials, the study of each of
which may be considered a separate field: metals and metallurgy, ceramics,
semiconductors and other electronic materials, polymers, and Biomaterials.
Metallurgy and ceramics have long and separate histories as engineering
disciplines, but because the science that underlies these disciplines
applies to all classes of materials, materials science is recognized as a
distinct discipline.

Materials science is related to materials engineering, which tends to focus
on processing techniques (casting, rolling, welding, ion implantation,
crystal growth, thin-film deposition, sintering, glassblowing, etc.),
analytical techniques (electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, calorimetry,
nuclear microscopy (HEFIB) etc.), materials design, and cost/benefit
tradeoffs in industrial production of materials.

Core Topics in Materials Science:

Thermodynamics, for phase stability, phase transformations and phase diagrams.

Kinetics, applied to the rates of phase transformations and diffusion.

Crystallography and the use of diffraction techniques for phase identification.

Solid state chemistry, for understanding the synthesis, stucture and phase
relationships of solids

Solid-state mechanics, for understanding plastic deformation of solids and fracturing.

Solid-state physics, for understanding electrical properties of materials.

Defects in crystals, such as grain boundaries and dislocations, and their
effects on physical properties.