Topic: THE GLASSY STATE

          —Novel Properties and Applications Exploiting Non-Crystallinity

Speaker: Prof. A. Lindsay Greer

             Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy,

             Cambridge University, UK

Time:  3:00pm, Mon. 13 July, 2009

Venue: Rm. 403, R&D Building

 

 

The glassy state is familiar from silicates, but embraces all major chemistries of material. This presentation will focus on three types of glasses very distinct from silicates. (1) Metallic glasses are attracting intense research at present because their availability in bulk form (minimum dimension greater than 1 cm). Their unique properties will be described in the context of competing engineering materials. The basic science underlying their properties is still being elucidated, but recent progress will be outlined. Their applications are broad, and representative examples will be given. (2) Carbohydrate glasses are exploited in living systems to permit survival under extremes of dehydration or cold. There are applications in food storage and in medicine (including organ preservation and drug delivery). Some research on kinetics, showing parallels with other types of glass will be described. (3) Chalcogenide glasses are used by us daily in CD-R and CD-RW computer disks. Switching between glassy and crystalline states in phase-change thin films is exploited for data storage. Progress in applying similar technology for so-called "unified" computer memory (PC-RAM) and for new types of logic circuit ("cognitive computing") will be reviewed.