Properties of Interfaced Materials and Films

Dear Colleagues,

Materials science and engineering continues to evolve around the dynamics of surface–vacuum, solid–vacuum, solid–solid, solid–liquid, liquid–liquid, and gas–liquid interfaces. Examples of these include bandgap engineering, homo- and heterostructures, phase change materials, photo–material interactions, and solid-phase epitaxy. Crystal growth mechanisms provide excellent case studies of interfaces; alloys, dielectrics, metals, and semiconductors have been demonstrated to cause major effects in their electronic, optical, and electrical properties. These modifications have been mainly caused by introducing lattice mismatches that are manifested in the form of stresses and strains. It is these stresses that alter the materials properties via modifying carrier mobility and modulating the bandgap. It is crucial, therefore, to understand the underlying mechanics of stresses and strains, particularly those related to the optical, electronic, and electrical properties of interfaced materials. This Special Issue will focus on electrical, electronic, and microscopy characterization techniques revealing the mechanics of stress formation at grain boundaries as well as other techniques that are necessary to understand evolution in surfaces and interfaces. Relevant parameters of studies will be the depth of stress fields and their effect on bandgap and their elastic and plastic limits before forming dislocations. This Special Issue also aims at correlating these interfacial stress and strains mechanics with the observed electrical, electronic, and optical properties and to understand their influence on carrier mobility, carrier confinement, and bandgap modulations. It is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript on the topic. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Prof. Nuggehalli M. Ravindra (Ravi)
Dr. Anthony T. Fiory
Guest Editors

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