Micromechanical Characterisation and Structures of Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Recent decades have seen significant technological advances within the fields of microscopy, piezoelectrics and X-ray focusing optics. For example, focused ion beam systems, nanoindentation, atomic force microscopy and micro/nano-focus synchrotron beamlines have made substantial progress in terms of capabilities and are becoming increasingly available to the research community. These combined capabilities have provided access to an entirely new experimental design space within the field of mechanics, such that the quantification of mechanical properties at the micro-to-nanoscale is now becoming routinely possible. The insights gained from this type of analysis have significant implications for technique optimisation and material design. In particular, they are being used to help to understand and optimise state-of-the-art material systems and production techniques to provide increased capabilities and performance.

In this Special Issue, recent developments within the field of micromechanics and structural characterisation will be highlighted and discussed. Submissions will be welcomed across a broad range of material systems, with the central theme of high-resolution characterisation particularly focusing on technique development and novel approaches.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue. Full papers, communications and reviews are all welcome.

Dr. Alexander J G Lunt
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.