Department of Physics

18107  Physics and Technology of Materials   

Course webpage: https://eclass.uoa.gr/courses/PHYS177/

Course Content

• Interfaces: Thermodynamics of interfaces, surface tension and energy, wetting, adsorption, desorption, adsorption isotherms. Tensioactive molecules, phase diagram of monolayers.
• Nucleation: Homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, critical radius, clusters, nucleus, nucleation rate, spinodal decomposition, crystallization, nucleation and growth of nanoparticles, modes of epitaxial growth, glass phase.
• Soft Materials: 1D and 3D-chiral liquid crystals, electro-optical properties, Bragg reflection from a lattice of defects, photonic gap. Hybrid materials, microemulsions, polymers, elastomers, liquid crystalline elastomers, artificial muscles.
• Ferromagnetic/Piezomagnetic, Ferroelectric/Piezoelectric and Multiferroic  materials: Spontaneous polarization, order parameter, coupling of different order parameters, Ginzburg-Landau theory, anisotropic properties, applications.
• Superconducting materials: Theory of superconductivity, superconductors of Type I & II, Abrikosov vortex lattice, hysteresis mechanisms, critical current, depairing current, phase diagram (H-T) of vortex matter, applications.
• Hybrid materials of micro/nano-scopic dimensions: Hybrid materials of ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, piezoelectric, conducting and superconducting ingredients, antagonistic order parameters and conditions of coexistence, applications.