Functional Properties of Nanostructured Materials

The beginning of the XXI-st century can be seen as the start of a revolution in nanomaterials and nanotechnology which has already an impact on everyday life; this impact will grow rapidly in the near future. The need for international but also interdisciplinary cooperation and dissemination of knowledge in the field of nanoscale science and engineering is also becoming increasingly apparent. The common efforts of researchers from different countries and fields of science can bring complementary expertise to solve the rising problems in order to take the advantages of the nanoscale approach in materials sciences. Nanostructured materials are becoming of major significance, and their investigations require a comprehensive approach. The fundamental properties of these materials are remarkably altered as the size of their constituent grains or phases decreases to the nanometer scale. These novel materials made of nanosized building blocks offer unique and entirely different electrical, optical, mechanical, and magnetic properties compared to conventional micro- or millimetre-size materials owing to their distinctive size, shape, topology, surface properties, etc.

Preface.- 1. General Aspects.- Nanoscaled materials: A brief introduction; R. Kassing, W. Kulisch.- 2. Basic Properties of Nanoscaled Materials.- 2.1. Electrical Properties.- Electronic Properties and characterization of disordered semiconductors; J. Marshall.- A computer modeling study of hopping transport and variable range hopping in disordered soils; J. Marshall.- Electrode-limited currents in thin ternary chalcogenide films; P. Petkov.- 2.2. Optical Properties.- A short survey of optical properties of metal nanostructures; U. Kreibig.- 2.3. Mechanical Properties.- Nanocomposite thin films with improved mechanical properties; W. Kulisch.- 3. Techniques and Methods.- 3.1. Preparation of Nanoscaled Materials.- Fabrication of nanostructures; R. Kassing.- 3.1.1. Bulk Materials.- Optical properties of metal nanoparticles formed by ion implantation and modified by laser annealing; A.L. Stepanov.- Synthesis procedures of nanocomposites from gels; J.-C. Pivin.- Phase separation and crystallization in high iron containing borosilicate glasses; R. Harizanova et al.- Nanocomposites based on immiscible borate glasses; V. Ivanova et al.- Investigation of the microstructure of polypropylene composites filled with wood flour modified with monochloracetic acid; D. Dobreva et al.- 3.1.2. Thin Films.- Physics of deposition of hydroxyapatite layers by pulse laser deposition method; W. Mroz.- Laser deposition of waveguiding films; M. Jelinek.- Functionalized thin films and structures obtained by novel laser processing approaches; R. Cristescu et al.- 3.2. Characterization of Nanoscaled Materials.- Nanostructured films on silicon surfaces; P. Morgen et al.- On the origin of impurities in the window layers of CsTe/CdS solar cells; M. Emziane et al.- 4. Nanoscaled Thin Films.- 4.1. Carbon and Related Materials.- Deposition, characterization and application of nanocrystalline diamond films; W. Kulisch, C. Popov.- Nano-scale, multi-functional, cubic boron nitride coatings; S. Ulrichet al.- Nanocrystalline cubic boron nitride films; R. Freudenstein, W. Kulisch.- Boron nitride thin layers prepared using a krypton fluoride excimer laser; R. Kosydar et al.- 4.2. Silicon-Based Films.- Metal induced crystallization – an advanced method for polycrystalline Si film preparation; D. Dimova-Malinovska.- Modication of the optical and structural properties of a-Si1-xCx: H films by ion implantation; D. Dimova-Malinovska.- Application of stain etched porous silicon in solar cells and light emitting diodes; D. Dimova-Malinovska.- Structural properties of poly-Si thin films on ZnO:Al coated glass substrates obtained by aluminium induced crystallization in different atmospheres; V. Grigorov et al.- 4.3. Oxide Films.- CVD-transition metal oxide films as functional layers in 'smart windows' and X-ray mirrors; K. Gesheva et al.- Plasma assisted deposition of tungsten oxide / silicon oxide multilayer films with sub-nanometer single layers; F. Hamelmann et al.- Electrical and polarization properties of nanosized ZrO2 on polycrystalline silicon; P.V. Aleksandrova et al.- Characterization of optical coatings for artwork protection by means of neutron reflectometry; I. Di Sarcina et al.- Functional nanostructured metal oxide thin films for applications in optical gas detection; G. Socol et al.- 4.4. Further Systems.- Structural characterization of Er: YAG thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition; D. Stanoi et al.- Optical behavior of vacuum deposited amorphous and nano-crystalline As2S3 films before and after irradiation; J. Dikova et al.- On the determination of the optical constants of very thin metallic films; P. Gushterova et al.- 5. Special Nanostructures: Fullerenes, Nanotube, Nanowires.- Nanostructured carbon materials; C. Popov.- Encapsulates: Nd-Fe-B@C and Fe@C for drug delivery systems and contrast elements, study of structure, chemical composition and magnetic properties; M.J. Wozniak et al.-