Advances in Thin Films Materials: Properties, Characterization, Physical Vapor Deposition and Application
A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Thin Films and Interfaces".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 October 2024 | Viewed by 2704
Special Issue Editors
Interests: physical vapor deposition of thin films; oxide and nitride nanocomposites; metal matrix composites; multi-scale characterization and modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: physical vapor deposition and properties of ceramic thin films
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The mechanical and functional properties of thin-film materials generally differ substantially from those of their bulk counterparts due to the well-known defect, strain, dimensional and interface effects. For example, thin-film materials have higher strength and wear resistance, owing to the presence of nano-sized interfaces. Additionally, interface-related strains can induce strong interplays between the crystal lattice, orbital, charge and spin degrees of freedom, which create emerging electronic or magnetic states and consequently lead to novel functionalities. These unique properties enable an incredible expansion of technological applications of thin-film materials in a range of fields, from electronics to biomedicine to optical devices. Recent advances in physical vapor deposition (PVD) have furthered the compositional and structural design of thin films. Introducing structural/compositional complexity during PVD involves profuse interface and phase coupling, and thereby significantly enhances thin films’ properties. As a consequence, new materials have emerged in the development of next-generation structural and functional materials, such as ceramics, oxides, nanocomposite thin films and multilayers. In order to develop materials with desired microstructure and properties and to facilitate their development, efforts to explore material deposition and growth, defect and microstructure control, property characterization and applications, as well as the establishment of an in-depth understanding of structure–property relationships, are necessary.
Correspondingly, this Special Issue will be devoted to all aspects related to PVD films, including but not limited to thin film growth, microstructure characterization and thin film properties and applications, presenting state-of-the-art advances in this rapidly developing field.
Dr. Yue Liu
Dr. Jian Song
Dr. Kunming Yang
Guest Editors
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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-blind 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.
Keywords
- physical vapor deposition
- thin films
- interfaces
- functional properties
- mechanical properties
