Sputtered neutral mass spectrometry (SNMS) is a technique for elemental and isotopic analysis with excellent detection limits, with similar sensitivity for all elements and without substantial matrix effects. Particles sputter atomized from the sample surface are ionized and mass spectrometrically measured. Elemental detection limits are routinely 1–10 ppm, but can be as low as 1–10 ppb. Particular modes of SNMS enable the measurement of accurate concentration depth profiles with resolutions approaching 20 Å and the measurement of electrically insulating samples.

What constitutes a strong multidisciplinary program in materials? Does a strong multidisciplinary program require strong disciplines? What are the differences (if any) between interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, crossdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary programs? Are thrust areas essential components of a good multidisciplinary program? What is the role of central facilities in multidisciplinary research and education? Are there intrinsic differences between the activities of graduate students in multidisciplinary and single-investigator programs? Is peer review appropriate and, equally important, feasible for large multidisciplinary programs?

This family of questions is of increasing interest and some concern in both the academic and funding segments of the national materials community. It does not appear to be a major issue in either the industrial or national laboratory arenas, where the funding practices, organizational patterns, and in some respects the research and development goals, are different from those in the research universities. An essential distinction is the presence of a formal education component in the graduate materials programs in the universities. However, in discussions of academic materials research programs, both funder and (regrettably) fundee occasionally relegate purely educational aspects to the background.

Multidisciplinary and block-funded programs are a steadily increasing fraction of the total research support in materials available to universities. Some 30 years ago virtually all university research in materials-related subjects was supported through single-investigator grants.

The term “halide glass” refers to glasses in which the anions are from elements in Group VIIA of the periodic table, namely, F, Cl, Br and I, as opposed, for example, to “oxide glasses,” such as silicates, borates, phosphates, etc. Two known single component halide melts are glassforming, BeF2 and ZnCl2, but the majority of halide glasses are multicomponent. Practical interest in halide glasses has been generated almost entirely by their optical properties, which cannot be duplicated in a more conventional oxide glass. Barriers to the practical deployment of halide glasses have their origin in materials properties in which they can be markedly inferior to oxide glasses, e.g., mechanical strength, resistance of the melt to crystallization, chemical durability, etc.

In the past decade there has been considerable and accelerating research activity in the area of halide glass science and engineering. Halide glass research up to 1980 has been reviewed by Baldwin et al. and oxide and halide glasses for laser applications have been compared by Weber. Four international symposia on halide glass science and engineering have been held in the period 1982–1987, the proceedings of the last two of which have been or will be shortly published. The proceedings of a 1986 NATO-sponsored meeting on halide glasses have also been published in book form.

The strength, vitality, and development of the materials professions are determined largely by the quality of education of their new members. While this truism applies to any profession, it is critically important that it be recognized in a rapidly changing and evolving area such as the materials field, which includes activities in materials engineering, ceramic engineering, polymer engineering, and metallurgical engineering. The recent development of tools and techniques that allow relating details of atomic and electronic structure to material properties, the discovery of new classes of materials, many of which are complex integrations of metals, ceramics, and/or polymers, along with the rich diversity of new processing methods that yields improved properties and new materials concepts, are examples that emphasize the dynamic and exciting nature of the field.

The primary responsibility for monitoring, evaluating, and certifying the quality of engineering and engineering-related education in colleges and universities in the United States lies with ABET, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. (For a discussion of accreditation in chemistry, see “Chemistry Education Programs Relevant to Materials Science” by P. Lykos in this issue.) ABET, working with the engineering professional societies, develops accreditation policies and criteria and conducts a comprehensive program of evaluation of first professional engineering degree programs. Programs meeting the prescribed criteria are granted accredited status.

The growth of integrated circuit applications has been a strong influence in the expansion of markets for ferroelectric ceramics. Ferroelectrics perform three major functions in circuits:

1. They store energy with a high volume efficiency,

2. They have very useful large changes in impedance with frequency, and

3. They transduce between various energy forms and electrical signals.

For many years commercial ferroelectric ceramics have been dominated by the barium titanate and lead zirconate titanate (PZT) systems. A tremendous research effort has been dedicated to these systems with very interesting studies still progressing on basic understanding, reproducibility, and modifications to utilize inexpensive electrodes. Processing studies are also seeking to reduce the size of devices and develop new transducing and sensing applications. The need to reduce cost and to fulfill specific applications is creating demands for new materials. Much of this effort has centered on lead-based systems referred to as relaxor ferroelectrics.

The areas of application of ferroelectrics are narrowed in this review by eliminating the interfacial (grain-grain boundary) devices and electro-optic applications discussed in “Electronic Ceramic Thin Films” by Bruce Tuttle in this issue. Also, this article can only cover a small fraction of the information indicated by the title.

An overview is presented of a recently developed surface analysis method that combines (1) desorption of neutral atoms and molecules from a sample, typically by sputtering, (2) efficient uniform ionization close to but above the surface by an intense ultraviolet laser beam, and (3) time-of-flight mass spectrometry. This technique, surface analysis by laser ionization, or SALI, provides extremely efficient and sensitive quantitative analysis of surfaces and materials with high depth resolution. Essentially any type of material can be analyzed as evidenced by the examples presented here: the Au-GaAs system, a phosphor-silicate glass, and a bulk polymer.

Condensation from plasmas has been shown to yield very fine, high purity powders from even the most refractory materials. Elementary particles in these powders are often single crystals, as fine as 50 nm diameter. These particles vary widely in agglomeration state; in some systems they are essentially independent, while in others hard agglomerates as large as several microns are observed. In this article the geometric aspects of reactor design which are thought to influence these powder structures are reviewed, along with three case studies in powder microstructure. Finally, the structure of the “typical” plasma powder is compared with expectations from alternative preparation routes.

The development of new, energy-efficient processing strategies for ceramic fabrication has become a rapid growth field over the last ten years. Most of these strategies rely on minimizing diffusion requirements during densification by improving both the chemical homogeneity and the initial density of the powder compact to be consolidated; both requirements dictate unusual care in the synthesis of the starting powders. In the oxide systems most extensively studied to date, the required powders can often be produced by precipitation from aqueous solutions and/or emulsions. In the carbide and nitride systems widely envisaged for the next generation of structural applications, these techniques are difficult and gas-phase synthesis routes appear more attractive. In fact, even the leading practitioners of the precipitation arts write enthusiastically of aerosol synthesis methods for the oxides.