Symposium F
This cross-cutting symposium aims at expanding the scope of the conference by encouraging hot topics that are new to ICMCTF. The five sessions of the symposium will provide a forum for new pioneering topics including the latest advances in computational material science, the synthesis of nanomaterials and nanofabrication, and coatings based on multi-principal-element and 2D materials.
F1. Nanomaterials and Nanofabrication
This session focuses on harnessing nanoscale phenomena and innovative deposition strategies for new types of nanostructures and nanomaterial coatings with multiple functionalities. Advances in thin films, nanocrystals, nanoparticles, nanowires, nanotubes, and their applications will be addressed, as well as the development and application of novel in-situ diagnostics to understand and control these growth processes. Further areas of interest include emerging direct-write, cluster-beam, and bio-inspired deposition methods, theoretical and computational research in nanomaterials with controlled properties, processing-structure-property relationships, novel application concepts or prototypes using nano-engineered structures, and plasma fundamentals and diagnostics. These topics cover the understanding and synthesis of novel nanostructured materials and how to apply them in the next-generation nano-devices, and the development of innovative manufacturing processes.
F1. Invited Speaker:
- Vladimir Popok, Aalborg University, Denmark, “Polymer Films with Gas-Phase Aggregated Nanoparticles: Formation and Applications”
F2. High Entropy and Other Multi-principal-element Materials
High entropy alloys (HEAs) and other multi-principal-element materials are multicomponent systems in which high entropy of mixing, or kinetic effects, stabilize a solid solution. They exhibit unique chemical and physical properties and have therefore recently attracted a growing interest in the materials science community. This session will be a platform for thin film-related research on high entropy and multi-principal-element materials including metal alloys, carbides, nitrides, and oxides as well as other multicomponent systems in which high entropy affects phase stability. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, modeling, thin film processing, and characterizations of HEAs and other multi-principal-element materials.
F2. Invited Speakers:
- Alexander Pogrebnjak, Sumy State University, Ukraine, “Design, Structure and Properties of Nanolayer Nitrides of High-Entropy Alloys”
F3. 2D Materials: Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications
This session focuses on exciting developments in the field of 2D materials, including but not limited to graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides (MoS2, WS2, etc.), BN, oxides, as well as emerging 2D carbides and nitrides. 2D materials have been extensively researched in the last decade as atomically-thin metal, semiconductor, and insulator materials with novel and extraordinary properties. Recent advances in their synthesis have provided new possibilities to tune their structure, properties, and enhance their electrical, mechanical, lubrication, and
anticorrosion performances. Researchers working in the field of 2D material synthesis and processing, characterization, and applications are encouraged to submit abstracts. We seek to advance the research and development of 2D material-based coatings by connecting researchers from diverse academic and industrial backgrounds, including tribology, materials science, physics, and chemistry.
Topics include: controlled scalable synthesis of 2D materials, composite materials and heterostructures, mixed 2D phases and alloys, formation and control of defects, grain boundaries, edges, interfaces, nanopores, characterization, theoretical modeling, device fabrication, post-synthesis engineering of 2D materials using chemical treatments and ion/electron beams, and applications of 2D materials in electronics, sensing, coating, friction/wear reduction, anti-corrosion, and anti-fouling.
F3. Invited Speakers:
- Nicholas Glavin, Air Force Research Laboratory, USA, “Synthesis and Characterization of Two Dimensional Chalcogenide Semiconductors and their Heterostructures”
F4: New Horizons in Boron-Containing Coatings
Borides and boron-containing thin film materials are emerging as the next generation of hard, wear-, oxidation-, and corrosion-resistant coatings. Furthermore, various boron-based materials exhibit unique properties obtaining high potential for functional and architectural materials design. The aim of this session is to provide a platform for discussions on first-principles design, synthesis, characterization, properties and applications of different types of boron-containing protective and functional thin films. A particular focus is directed towards synthesis technologies, including both PVD and CVD, but also theoretical modeling and advanced characterization techniques.
F4 Invited Speakers:
- Justinas Palisaitis, Linköping University, Sweden, “Revealing the Beauty of Imperfection in Novel Diboride Coatings by Transmission Electron Microscopy”
- Daniel Primetzhofer, Uppsala University, Sweden, “Accurate Composition Depth Profiling of Light Elements in Thin Films Using Ion Beams – What Can Be Achieved?”
- Pavel Souček, Masaryk University, Czechia, “Mapping the X-B-C Systems: Search for the Elusive X2BC Phase”
- Michael Stüber, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, “PVD Diboride-Based Thin Films – New Concepts for Materials Design: From Alloys to Composites and Multilayers”
- Sarah Tolbert, University of California, Los Angeles, USA, “Superhard Metal Borides”
F5: In-Silico Design of Novel Materials by Quantum Mechanics and Classical Methods
With increasingly complex materials being synthesized for an ever‐growing range of applications, there is a great need for understanding material properties at the atomistic and electronic levels. To this end, quantum mechanical and classical methods are incredibly powerful tools capable of guiding the entire design process. Tremendous improvements in computational resources, coupled with software development in recent years, make it possible to calculate real materials properties and thus provide a roadmap for experimental materials synthesis. This Symposium will cover a range of computational methodologies employed in materials design, incorporating fundamental first‐principles calculations probing structure‐property relationships, density‐functional ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations at finite temperatures that allow us to identify atomistic processes and associated changes in electronic structure which control strength, plasticity, and fracture in materials, through to large‐scale ‘virtual experiments’ tackled using a classical Molecular Dynamics approach. Contributions employing machine learning and big data approach are particularly welcome to complement the more traditional atomistic methods. This session will bring together world experts in computational materials science with the broad community of thin film and coating growers within ICMCTF. It will highlight representative examples of data‐driven materials design, which span from theoretical prediction to experimental validation via synthesis, characterization, and testing, showcasing rapid iteration between ideas, computations, insight and new materials development.
F5 Invited Speakers:
- Cheng Jianli, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, USA, “Computational Screening of Amorphous Cathode Coatings for High-Voltage Li-ion Battery Applications”
- Prashanth Srinivasan, University of Stuttgart, Germany, “Machine Learning Assisted Ab Initio Thermodynamics of Novel Materials”
- Davide Sangiovanni, Linköping University, Sweden, “Atomistic Understanding of Plasticity at Crack Tips in Refractory Ceramics”
- Susan Sinnott, The Pennsylvania State University, USA, “Advancing Computational Methods for Heterogeneous Material Systems”