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e m e r g i n g c e r a m i c s & g l a s s t e c h n o l o g y
MAY 2015
Glass-ceramics’ 60-year evolution • Peering into the past – Telescope glass •
St. Louis/RCD highlights •Meetings: 11th CMCEE, Cements Division •
Chalcogenide glass microphotonics: Stepping into the spotlight
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1American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
contentsM a y 2 0 1 5 • V o l . 9 4 N o . 4
cover storyChalcogenide glass microphotonics: Stepping into the spotlightCredit: Juejun Hu
– page 24
feature articles
Chalcogenide glass microphotonics: Stepping into the spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Juejun Hu, Lan Li, Hongtao Lin, Yi Zou, Qingyang Du, Charmayne Smith, Spencer Novak, Kathleen Richardson, and J. David Musgraves Integrated photonics on flexible substrates and on-chip infrared spectroscopic sensing expand new applications for chalcogenide glasses beyond phase change data storage and moldable infrared optics.
An analysis of glass–ceramic research and commercialization . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Maziar Montazerian, Shiv Prakash Singh, and Edgar Dutra Zanotto Distinct properties of glass–ceramics give them unique applications in domestic, space, defense, health, electronics, architecture, chemical, energy, and waste management.
Peering into the past: What early telescopes reveal about glass technology and scientific evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 April Gocha Corning Museum of Glass curator Marvin Bolt discusses how studying early telescopes provides a glimpse into the evolution of science, birth of glass science, and world history.
Nonlinear elasticity of silica fibers studied by in-situ Brillouin light scattering in two-point bend test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Michael Guerette and Liping Huang In-situ Brillouin light-scattering shows that an expression including the fifth-order term is required to capture both minimum in compression and maximum in tension in the elastic modulus of silica glass.
meetingsGOMD-DGG 2015: Glass & Optical Materials Division and Deutsche Glastechnische Gesellschaft Joint Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
11th CMCEE: International Conference on Ceramic Materials and Components for Energy and Environmental Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
6th Advances in Cement-based Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Meeting highlights: ACerS St. Louis Section/Refractory Ceramics Division’s 51st Annual Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
columnsDeciphering the Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Peter Robinson Industry or research? Engineering alternative commercial careers
resourcesNew Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Classified Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Display Advertising Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
departmentsNews & Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
ACerS Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Ceramics in Energy . . . . . . . . 15
Ceramics in the Environment . . . . . 16
Advances in Nanomaterials . . . 17
Research Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
featureAn analysis of glass–ceramic research and commercializationCredit: Schott North America
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2 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4
contentsM a y 2 0 1 5 • V o l . 9 4 N o . 4
bulletinAMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY
American Ceramic Society Bulletin covers news and activities of the Society and its members, includes items of interest to the ceramics community, and provides the most current information concerning all aspects of ceramic technology, including R&D, manufacturing, engineering, and marketing. American Ceramic Society Bulletin (ISSN No. 0002-7812). ©2015. Printed in the United States of America. ACerS Bulletin is published monthly, except for February, July, and November, as a “dual-media” magazine in print and electronic formats (www.ceramicbulletin.org). Editorial and Subscription Offices: 600 North Cleveland Avenue, Suite 210, Westerville, OH 43082-6920. Subscription included with The American Ceramic Society membership. Nonmember print subscription rates, including online access: United States and Canada, 1 year $135; international, 1 year $150.* Rates include shipping charges. International Remail Service is standard outside of the United States and Canada. *International nonmembers also may elect to receive an electronic-only, email delivery subscription for $100. Single issues, January–October/November: member $6 per issue; nonmember $15 per issue. December issue (ceramicSOURCE): member $20, nonmember $40. Postage/handling for single issues: United States and Canada, $3 per item; United States and Canada Expedited (UPS 2nd day air), $8 per item; International Standard, $6 per item.
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OfficersKathleen Richardson, PresidentMrityunjay Singh, President-ElectDavid Green, Past PresidentDaniel Lease, TreasurerCharles Spahr, Secretary
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Star powerCheck out ACerS member Valerie Wiesner in this Women’s History Month profile from @NASA! http://bit.ly/1FezckH
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3American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
Apple’s gold made stronger with ceramics
Apple’s newest product offering—the Apple Watch—is certain to be no less popular than the rest of its fleet. Fortune estimates that the company could sell anywhere from 8 million to 41 million units.
The most basic watch starts at $349. The Apple Watch Edition, a.k.a., the gold one, sells for somewhere between $10,000 and $17,000.
“The Edition collection features eight uniquely elegant expressions of Apple Watch,” states the Apple website. “Each has a watch case crafted from 18-karat gold that our metallurgists have developed to be up to twice as hard as standard gold. The display is protected by polished sapphire crystal. And an exquisitely designed band pro-vides a striking complement.”
But according to the company’s pat-ent filings, the watch “uses as little gold as possible.” Apple’s application reveals that the extrastrong gold timepiece is an alloy—a metal-matrix composite (MMC) combined with a ceramic powder. The mixture, which according to the filing is 75% gold and 25% ceramic rein-forcement, is compressed into a die to achieve near net shape and is heated to sinter the metal and ceramic together.
“… the metal-matrix composite can include in addition to gold any of the
following in any combination: boron carbide, diamond, cubic boron nitride, titanium nitride (TiN), iron aluminum silicate (garnet), silicon carbide, alumi-
num nitride, aluminum oxide, sapphire powder, yttrium oxide, zirconia, and tungsten carbide. The choice of mate-rials used with the gold in the metal-
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The gold behind the Apple Watch Edition is not pure—it earns strength and durabil-ity from ceramic materials.
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www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 44
matrix composite can be based upon many factors, such as color, desired density (perceived as heft), an amount of gold required to meet design/marketing criteria, and so on.”
What many might see as purely a cost-cutting measure is really a matter of material performance—the addi-tion of ceramic particles to the MMC makes Apple’s gold “twice as hard” (400 Vickers hardness), more scratch resis-tant, and less dense. Given the beating a watch can take, a cheaper, stronger, lighter, and more scratchproof model is an advantage for Apple. n
Materials research and research centers get leg up from NSF funding
The National Science Foundation recently announced that it will present a dozen Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) with awards of $1.6 million to $3.3 million
for multidisciplinary and interdisciplin-ary materials research and education. The 12 MRSECs will receive a total of $56 million in NSF funding.
“These awards are representative of the exquisitely balanced and highly multidisciplinary research portfolio
spanning all of the division-supported research areas,” says NSF Division of Materials Research director Mary Galvin in an NSF press release. “These multi-disciplinary awards, in particular, will promote areas such as next-generation quantum computing, electronics and photonics, and bio- and soft-materials.”
The MRSEC at Columbia University is the newest of the NSF-funded research centers and, according to the release, will have two interdisci-plinary research groups (IRGs). “One of the research groups will study how 2-D materials interact to create new physical phenomena to potentially be integrated into electronic devices, and the other research group may estab-lish a new type of periodic table by using molecular clusters to assemble materials, which could generate new electronic and magnetic materials of technological importance.”
The other 11 centers “represent melting pots of cutting-edge materials science and engineering.” Many already have well-established IRGs and will add second, third, and fourth groups devot-ed to the study of materials in a host of applications, including artificial muscles and self-healing materials, superconduc-tors and energy storage, solid-state elec-tronics and low-power switches, opto-electronics and spintronic devices, and materials with bioinspired function.
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Business newsNew wing at Corning Museum of Glass opens (cmog.org)…AGC plant in Athus, Belgium, to close (agc.com)…FEI joins University of Ulm and CEOS on SALVE project research collaboration (fei.com) …Alcoa completes acquisition of Tital (alcoa.com)…$2M in support launches Siemens Energy Large Manufacturing Solutions Laboratory (siemens.com)…APC International opens U.S. piezo-electric powder-manufacturing facility (americanpiezo.com)…China’s Fuyao Glass plans to raise up to $950M in IPO (fuyaogroup.com)…Carbo moth-balling its ceramic proppant facility in Georgia (carboceramics.com)…Bayer MaterialScience buys composite materials specialist (materialscience.bayer.com)…3M files patent infringe-ment lawsuit to protect dental ceramic coloring technology (3M.com)…Japan Display confirms new plant, source says
for Apple (j-display.com)…Alcoa to acquire RTI International Metals (alcoa.com)…Kyocera named 2014 Top Global Innovator by Thomson Reuters (kyocera.com)…Schott suffers fire at Duryea plant (schott.com)…Ferro acquires laser-marking industry leader TherMark (ferro.com)…FCO Power develops SOFC for residential fuel cells in apartments (ecobyfco.com)…Corning Gorilla Glass helps take Gionee slim smartphones to next level (corning.com)…H.C. Starck’s tantalum supply chain compliant with Conflict Free Smelter Program (hcstarck.com)…Air Products and Suzuki Shokan to develop hydrogen fueling for Japan’s material-handling market (airproducts.com)…Goodfellow introduces compre-hensive custom manufacturing services (goodfellowusa.com)…Kerneos and Elmin acquire European Bauxites (kerneos.com) n
NSF will award $56 million to 12 Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers to support cutting-edge research.
5American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
They also will have a more defined focus on education, particularly at the Columbia MRSEC, where the university and its partners will work to develop outreach activities for K–12 schools in the area.
For more information, go to www.mrsec.org. n
Group suggests seven strate-gies to advance women in science
One of the biggest conversations about careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is STEM’s lack of diversity.
And because attracting, inspiring, and training the next generation of STEM professionals is vital to future advance-ments in ceramics and glass, it is an issue that ACerS is dedicated to address-ing through expanded outreach initia-tives, including the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation.
Much of that conversation focuses on ways to advance women in science. Even though women have come a long way, research shows that there is still plenty of room for improvement.
A working group of 30-plus academic and business leaders organized by the New York Stem Cell Foundation has put forth seven strategies to address financial support, psychological and cultural issues, and collaborative and international initiatives they believe will advance women in an often imbalanced STEM landscape.
“We wanted to think about broad ways to elevate the entire field, because when we looked at diversity programs across our organizations we thought that the results were okay, but they really could be better,” says Susan L. Solomon, cofounder and CEO of the New York Stem Cell Foundation and member of the Initiative on Women in Science and Engineering Working Group, in a news release. “We’ve identified some very straightforward things to do that are inexpensive and could be implemented pretty much immediately.”
1. Implement flexible family care spending Make grants gender neutral by permit-ting grantees to use a certain percent-age of grant award funds to pay for childcare, eldercare, or family-related expenses. This provides more freedom for grantees to focus on professional development and participate in the sci-entific community.
2. Provide “extra hands” awards Dedicate funds for newly independent young investigators who also are primary caregivers to hire technicians, adminis-trative assistants, or postdoctoral fellows.
3. Recruit gender-balanced review and speaker selection committees Adopt policies that ensure that peer review committees are conscious of gender and include a sufficient number of women.
4. Incorporate implicit bias statements For any initiative that undergoes external peer review, include a statement that
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describes the concept of implicit bias to reviewers and reiterates the organization’s commitment to equality and diversity.
5. Focus on education as a tool Academic institutions and grant mak-ers must educate their constituents and grantees on the issues women face in sci-ence and medicine. For example, gender awareness training should be a standard component of orientation programs.
6. Create an institutional report card for gender equality Define quantifiable criteria to evaluate gender equality in institutions on an annual basis. For instance, report cards may ask for updates about the male to female ratio of an academic department or the organization’s policy regarding female representation on academic or corporate committees.
7. Partner to expand upon existing search-able databases of women in science, medi-cine, and engineering Create or contribute to databases that identify women scientists for positions and activities that are critical compo-nents for career advancement.
“The issues in science, technology, engineering, and medicine are the kinds of challenges that we as a society face, and we need to have 100 percent of the popu-lation—both genders—have an opportunity to participate,” Solomon says.
The paper, published in Cell Stem Cell, is “Seven actionable strategies for advancing women in science, engineer-ing, and medicine,” (DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2015.02.012). n
Glass fibers weave supersonic strength into ballistic panels for world’s fastest vehicle
The current land speed record rests at 763 mph, but if the Bloodhound Project has its way, the record will not be resting for much longer.
The team of United Kingdom-based engineers is working on a new super-sonic rocket-powered car they hope will obliterate the world record by rocketing to 1,000 mph.
According to the website, Bloodhound can accelerate from 0 to 1,000 mph in a mere 55 seconds thanks to its whopping 135,000 hp—the equiva-lent hp of more than 84 of the most powerful Lamborghinis. At those speeds, the car will experience 20 tons of drag, and, if it were fired directly into the air, the car would reach an altitude of 25,000 feet.
The Bloodhound team says that the car uses solid aluminum wheels because standard rubber tires would peel off at speeds of about 400 mph.
Engineers forged Bloodhound’s solid aluminum wheels so that the aluminum grains “radiate out like the spokes of a wheel.” But rotating at up to 10,200 rpm, or 170 rps, and experiencing 50,000 radial g of force at the rim, the wheels still could fail.
So, to protect vehicle and driver hurtling thought the Kalahari dessert at those ridiculously fast speeds, Morgan Advanced Materials engineered glass composite ballistic panels that will pro-tect the car’s carbon composite cockpit sides from all assaults.
The panels are composed of millions of glass fibers woven together into a strong mat that can absorb the energy of projectiles bombarding the cockpit at speeds of up to 980 m/s.
To test the ballistic panels, Morgan’s engineers blast a simulated piece of Bloodhound’s wheel at the
panels. That piece is the largest size they say could break off from the solid aluminum wheels.
How did the glass hold up? See for yourself at bit.ly/1BQExw8. n
NIST awards $26 million to American manufacturing centers
Creating and retaining jobs, turning losses to profits, and implementing pro-cesses that improve the efficiency and output of American manufacturers is not something that can be done overnight. It also is not something that can be done without the backing of the private and public sectors.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology recently reaffirmed its commitment to small- and medium-sized manufacturers through the awarding of cooperative agreements to 10 non-profit organizations and universities who oversee Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers located throughout the U.S. (Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia).
The 10 will receive a 60% bump in funding—$26 million total—to design new services and increase the number of manufacturers served by MEP programs.
“We are excited to award new agree-ments that bring increased funding levels to better meet the needs of manufacturers in these 10 states,” says acting under-secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and acting NIST direc-tor Willie May in a NIST press release. “These awards will allow the centers to help more manufacturers reach their goals in growth and innovation, which will have a positive impact on both their communities and the U.S. economy.”
These funds do have a pretty impres-sive ROI for U.S. taxpayers. According to NIST, MEP generates $19 in new sales for every federal dollar that is invested—an annual increase of $2.5 billion—and each federal investment of $2,001 creates one manufacturing job.
Congratulations to the award recipients:
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An engineer at Morgan Advanced Materials holds a projectile used to test its glass-fiber composite ballistic panels.
7American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
•Colorado: Manufacturer’s Edge (Boulder)—$1,668,359;
•Connecticut: CONNSTEP Inc. (Rocky Hill)—$1,476,247;
•Indiana: Purdue University/Indiana MEP (Indianapolis)—$2,758,688;
•Michigan: Industrial Technology Institute/Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (Plymouth)—$4,299,175;
•New Hampshire: New Hampshire Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Concord)—$628,176;
•North Carolina: North Carolina State University/North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Raleigh)—$3,036,183;
•Oregon: Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Tigard)—$1,792,029;
•Tennessee: University of Tennessee, Center for Industrial Services/Tennessee Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Nashville)—$1,976,348;
•Texas: The University of Texas at Arlington/Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (Arlington)—$6,700,881; and
•Virginia: A.L. Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership/GENEDGE Alliance (Martinsville)—$1,722,571.
To learn more about the centers or the awards, go to www.nist.gov/mep/awards-support-manufacturing.cfm. n
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NIST has awarded $26 million to help give American manufacturers an edge.
University of Arizona to offer new Master of Engineering in Innovation, Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship degree
The University of Arizona will launch a new Master of Engineering in Innovation, Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship (ME-ISE) degree in fall 2015.
According to the university’s website, this “technical MBA” will offer a combina-tion of business-oriented classes and engi-neering courses to help engineers bridge the gap between innovative ideas and sus-
tainable economic development strategies.“The world is changing in terms of
the need for new products and tech-nologies that can be designed to be sustainable throughout their entire life cycle, from manufacturing through ultimate disposal,” says Bob Rieger, associate director of the program. “The Master of Engineering in Innovation,
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www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 48
Sustainability and Entrepreneurship degree from the University of Arizona is designed to teach those skills and tools to the material science community.”
Rieger, who is understandably eager to talk about the new ME-ISE degree, was kind enough to respond to a request for more detail.
Q. Why now?A. We believe the disciplines associated
with the field of materials science, like all advanced technologies, are reaching a criti-cal juncture. Identification of innovative technologies that can be commercialized, development into sustainable products, and the myriad legal, competitive, and regulatory issues surrounding this have become increas-ing complex. In order to be first to market with new products in today’s world, you need to move fast. This means the luxury of exploring every innovation and conducting every test imaginable before deciding whether there is a chance of commercial success is no longer a workable business model. Rather,
in addition to superior technical skills, you also need the business skills to rapidly sift through many innovations to identify those that have the greatest chance of success. Concurrently, you need to be evaluating the regulatory, intellectual property, sustainable manufacturing, and competitive landscapes. Both technical and business tools exist that allow an individual to predict and optimize these issues without having to perform labo-rious tests. The new ME-ISE degree at the University of Arizona teaches these skills and tools. This is very important for those people wishing to start their own companies (entrepreneurs) and those responsible in a structured corporate environment for devel-oping new products (intrepreneurs).
Q. Why the University of Arizona?A. The University of Arizona is uniquely
situated, both academically and geographi-cally, to offer the ME-ISE degree. Our School of Material Science and Engineering within the greater College of Engineering hosts centers of excellence in resource extrac-
tion, water use and management, energy generation, and advanced manufacturing. Being situated in the southwest, these issues have been important for a historically long period. The ability to study and manage materials development from their initial extraction through to an advanced, innova-tive product is the result of our history and investment in faculty and physical labora-tory and prototype manufacturing resources. In addition, the College of Engineering has acknowledged expertise through their offer-ing of engineering management and systems integration curricula developed by industry partners, such as Raytheon Corporation.
Q. When do you plan to begin offering the ME-ISE degree?
A. We are currently in the process of accepting applications for our inaugural class to begin in fall 2015. The course of study consists of 30 credit hours, roughly split between technical classes and busi-ness and management classes. One unique feature of our program is that while it is designed as a residence program, it also has an online counterpart. At present, approxi-mately 70% of the content is available online, with the remaining to be activated within the next 18 months. We feel this online component makes the ME-ISE degree attractive to the working professional.
To learn more about the ME-ISE degree, go to www.sses.arizona. edu/me-ise. n
Voxel8 introduces the world’s first 3-D electronics printer
Jennifer Lewis and her Harvard research group have been 3-D printing a vast array of materials—including tissue constructs, strain sensors, and cellular composites. Now Lewis’ group is pio-neering 3-D printing in a new direction: electronics.
The group is the first to develop and market a 3-D printer that can incorpo-rate conductive inks and plastics into 3-D printed electronics through its spi-noff company, Voxel8. The company—founded by former Lewis lab graduate
The University of Arizona’s new master of engineering degree will help materials scientists stack up in the business world.
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9American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
students Michael Bell and Travis Busbee—uses core technology based off of a decade of research in Lewis’ lab.
“Voxel8 exists to disrupt the design and manufacture of electronic devices by providing new functional materials with a novel 3-D printing platform,” according to the company’s website.
Voxel8’s printer incorporates interchangeable printheads that pneumatically dispense multiple materials. Its highly con-ductive silver ink has a bulk electrical resistivity less than 5.0 × 10–7 Ω∙m, which the company says is more than 5,000 times more conductive than standard carbon-based inks used in 3-D printing and 20,000 times more conductive than the best conductive-filled thermoplastic filaments.
In addition to the ink’s conductive superiority, it can be printed at room temperature through a 250-μm nozzle, afford-ing compatibility with a wide range of materials. And the ink does not require a supportive substrate. “Our inks can hold their shape, span large gaps, and connect to electrical devices, such as TQFP chip packages, without short circuiting,” the website states.
Payment of $8,999 will fast-track buyers to the front of the line to get the first of the 3-D electronics printers and early access to new materials, according to the website.
The website also hints that the team is not done with the printer’s capabilities yet: “Our initial efforts have focused pri-marily on conductive inks. However, we have many new mate-rials in the pipeline for future release, starting with advanced matrix materials. The modularity of our cartridge system will allow designers and engineers to use the same printer to print many materials with widely varying electrical and mechanical properties … Voxel8 will leverage ink designs from the Lewis research group, including those that enable 3-D printing of resistors, dielectrics, stretchable electronics and sensors, and even lithium–ion batteries.”
For more information, visit www.voxel8.co. n
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10 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4
Alcoa refractories manager and ACerS Past President, Fellow, and Distinguished Life Member George MacZura dies at 85
George MacZura, who made his career developing innovative refractory aluminas and cements at Alcoa, died on March 13 at the age of 85.
After graduating from University of Missouri-Rolla (now the Missouri University of Science and Technology) in 1952, MacZura accepted a position with Alcoa’s chemical research plant in East St. Louis, Ill. He expected to work for a few years, gain some experience, and move on to new opportunities. Instead, “a few years” became 44 years, he recounts in a 1999 ACerS Bulletin article. “As it turned out, there was always a new challenge in research that intrigued me and [the move] never happened.”
Over the course of his career, he traveled to more than 50 countries to introduce new products and teach customers how to use them. At the time of his retirement in 1997, he held the position of international refractories market development manager.
MacZura led the first Unified International Technical Conference on Refractories (UNITECR) in 1989 and served as the first president of UNITECR.
MacZura was a member of the Refractories Ceramics Division. In addition to serving as Society president 1992–1993, he was an ACerS Fellow and was elevated to Distinguished Life Member in 2009. MacZura received the St. Louis Section’s Theodore J. Planje Award, the Pittsburgh Section’s Albert Victor Bleininger Memorial Award, and the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers’ ACerS/NICE Greaves–Walker Award. n
Ceradyne founder and ACerS Distinguished Life Member Joel Moskowitz dies at 75
Joel Moskowitz—the man known for saving the lives of soldiers in combat—lost his battle against cancer on March 15 at the age of 75.
Originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., Moskowitz studied ceramic engi-neering at Alfred University. In 1967, after working for a few years as a research engineer at Interpace Corporation, he and a business partner pulled together $5,000 to start the company that became Ceradyne.
The business grew to become an international, publicly traded company employing nearly 3,000 at locations in the United States, Canada, China, and Germany, with annual revenues of $500 million. In fall 2012, 3M (St. Paul, Minn.) acquired Ceradyne in a deal valued at approximately $860 mil-lion. With the sale, Moskowitz retired from his position as CEO of the company he led for 45 years.
Ceradyne was founded to develop, manufacture, and market advanced structural ceramics for defense, industrial, and consumer applications, and is best known for its boron carbide ceramic armor for soldiers and vehicles. “We’re saving American lives,” Moskowitz often remarked in interviews.
Moskowitz was instrumental in launching The Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation, the Society’s philanthropic arm dedicated to education and workforce development. As founding chair of CGIF, he helped define its mission and vision. He was an enthusiastic ambassador, advocate, and supporter for the CGIF.
Moskowitz joined ACerS in 1958 and was elevated to Distinguished Life Member in 2012. n
Society and Division news
acers spotlight
MacZura
Welcome to our newest Corporate Member!
Niokem Inc.Waynesville, N.C.www.niokem.com
ACerS recognizes organizations that have joined the Society as Corporate Members. For more information on becoming a Corporate Member, contact Megan Bricker at [email protected], or visit www.ceramics.org/corporate.
Moskowitz
Explore glass's past and present during this one-day workshop hosted by ACerS Art, Archaeology, and Conservation Science Division, following the American Institute for Conservation meeting.
Register at ceramics.org.
What's new in ancient glass research?
May 17, 2015 | 8:30 a.m. – 5:20 p.m.Hyatt Regency Miami
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ACerS forms new Manufacturing Division to meet industry needs
ACerS has formed a new Manufacturing Division to address the needs of members and prospective members worldwide who work in the ceramics and glass manufacturing industry and its supply chain.
William Carty, Alfred University, will serve as inaugural chair of the new Division. Carty proposed the new Division so that manufacturing companies and their employees have a more defined Division within the Society. Carty and several supportive members from industry began by developing a plan for transforming the inactive Whitewares and Materials Division into a new Manufacturing Division, a proposal that the Board of Directors has endorsed.
The new Division will address information needs of the ceramic and glass manufacturing industry, including manufac-turers; suppliers of raw-material; and producers of forming and finishing equipment, kilns, furnaces, quality-control instru-mentation, and all other devices used to manufacture ceramic
and glass products. Although the new Manufacturing Division will encompass the former Whitewares and Materials Division, its focus will be on meeting the much broader needs of today’s manufacturers who produce or use ceramic and glass materi-als. In addition to enhancing networking opportunities, the Manufacturing Division will address new processes and tech-niques, sustainability, and business and environmental issues.
Further, the Division plans to provide quality technical information through meeting programming, technical content in ACerS publications, and short courses and workshops to edu-cate industry personnel and promote recruitment and hiring of engineers into ceramic and glass manufacturing companies.
“Bringing ceramic and glass manufacturing back into the spotlight has been a strategic goal of the Society for a long time," Carty says. "And launching it at the new Ceramics Expo in April was perfect timing since the audience there is primarily from industry. We look forward to pairing the Division and the Expo together for a long time and helping them both grow in size and influence in the ceramics and glass manufacturing community.”
Society and Division news
Materials Challenges in Alternative & Renewable Energy (MCARE) 2015 was held February 24–27 in Jeju, South Korea. This interdisciplinary conference was designed to bring together leading global experts, providing a unique opportunity for communication and collaboration in the field of advanced materials for new and renewable energy.
MCARE 2015 consisted of 10 symposia, including a Young Scientists' Forum of Future Energy Materials and Devices. Conference organizers received a total of 380 abstracts—including 140 invited papers, 4 plenary lectures, 14 keynote talks, and 121 invited talks—which contributed to the high quality and level of presentations. The meeting attracted around 400 attendees, half of which hailed from outside Korea, from 26 countries. n
(From left) Do-Heyoung Kim, MCARE 16 Secretary General; Zhong Lin Wang, Plenary Speaker; Xavier Obradors, Plenary Speaker; and Yoon-Bong Hahn, MCARE 2015 and 2016 Co-Chair.
MCARE 2015 attracts global leaders in alternative energy
303-433-5939
See us at Ceramics Expo, Booth 340
12 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4
Society and Division news (continued)
acers spotlight
ACerS and GOMD announce 2015 lecture awardsACerS and the Glass and Optical
Materials Division will honor its 2015 lecture award recipients during the joint meeting of ACerS GOMD–DGG, May 17–21, Miami, Fla. For more informa-tion, visit ceramics.org/meetings.
Darshana and Arun Varshneya Frontiers of Glass Science Lecture Wednesday, May 20, 8 a.m.
Sabyasachi Sen, professor of materi-als science, University of California, Davis, Structural aspects of relax-ational dynamics in glasses and supercooled liquids.
Previous literature has primarily treated dynamic
processes associated with viscous and diffusive transport in glass-forming liq-uids as macroscopic phenomena. These phenomena are often investigated using bulk relaxation experiments that typical-ly lack a direct understanding of atomic-scale processes. NMR spectroscopy has the unique ability to combine timescale and structural information to probe the mechanisms of molecular relaxation dynamics in glasses and viscous liquids. Sen will present an overview of recent work from his laboratory involving the application of NMR spectroscopic techniques to address the nature and timescale of various thermally driven
configurational changes in a wide variety of inorganic and organic glasses and supercooled liquids and their relation-ship to macroscopic relaxation and trans-port processes.
Sen obtained his Ph.D. in geochem-istry from Stanford University. He has held positions at the University of Wales Aberystwyth (United Kingdom), and Corning Incorporated (Corning, N.Y.). He joined the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of California, Davis in 2004. He has authored and coauthored more than 150 scientific papers and 7 U.S. patents. Sen’s research interests include the application of state-of-the-art spec-troscopic and diffraction techniques to understand structure and dynamics in amorphous materials, including glasses and glass-forming liquids, fast ion con-duction in crystalline solid oxide electro-lytes, battery materials, and ionic liquids.
Darshana and Arun Varshneya Frontiers of Glass Technology Lecture Thursday, May 21, 8 a.m.
Steven B. Jung, chief technology officer, Mo-Sci Corporation, The present and future of glass in medicine.
Glass already is used in medical applications from cancer treatment
to tissue regeneration, but the future of medical glass will require advances in chemical composition, shape, form, and processing to continue to improve treatment options. The beauty of glass is that it can obtain almost any char-acteristic—durable, degradable, solid, porous, and more. The uniqueness of the material properties of glass ulti-mately makes way for innovative medi-cal devices. Jung’s talk will focus on present advances in hard- and soft-tissue regeneration and why glass materials will remain a viable and growing option for the future of healing.
Jung received a Ph.D. in materials sci-ence and engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, Mo.), where he studied bioactive glass scaffolds for hard- and soft-tissue regeneration. He is an inventor on 11 U.S. patents and about 50 pending U.S. and international patents in biomateri-als. Jung is currently chief technology officer at specialty and healthcare glass manufacturer Mo-Sci Corporation (Rolla, Mo.).
Stookey Lecture of Discovery Monday, May 18, 8 a.m.
N. B. Singh, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Development of multi-functional chalcogenide and chalcopyrite crystals and glasses.
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ACerS president Kathleen Richardson echoes Carty's com-ments and adds, “I see the new Division as a much needed bridge between academia and industry and as a way that the two commu-nities can engage. As both an academic and a business entrepre-neur, I see many opportunities for interaction, and I encourage all members to get involved in the Manufacturing Division.”
Members of the Whitewares and Materials Division voted on the new name and mission, and the vote was overwhelm-ingly in favor of the change. Members of the Whitewares and Materials Division will automatically become members of the new Manufacturing Division. The Division also elected a new slate of officers:
Chair: William Carty, Alfred UniversityChair-Elect: Nik Ninos, Calix Ceramic Solutions
Vice-Chair: Ed Reeves, Reeves Consulting Secretary: Keith DeCarlo, Blasch Precision Ceramics Inc. Final Board approval took place on March 25, 2015. The
Manufacturing Division executive committee will hold an initial planning meeting at Ceramics Expo in Cleveland, Ohio, April 29, 2015, where it will host a small lunch with industry representatives.
Get involved: Join for free! Become a member of the Manufacturing Division at no charge for one year and help set the direction during this important inaugural year. Contact Marcia Stout at [email protected] or 614-794-5821 to join. n
13American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
During the past few decades, much research has developed glass and single-crystal materi-als for optical applications for visible and near–infrared wavelengths. However, for mid-wave and long-wave infrared regions, efficient materials continue to be needed. Singh will summarize his research efforts to identify these
materials and characterize their performance for a variety of applications. The talk will focus on growth and performance of bulk and quasi-phase-matched materials for laser development and acousto-optical hyperspectral imaging.
Singh is a Fellow of ASM, International Society of Optics and Photonics, Optical Society of America, and Royal Society of Chemistry. Before his position at the University of Maryland, Singh was a senior consulting engineer at Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems (Baltimore, Md.). His research interests include development of bulk, thin-film, and nanoengineered materials, acousto-optic imagers and spectral sensors, dielectric materials, structures for mid-infrared lasers, organic materials for nonlinear optical applications, wide bandgap materials for microelectronics, and radiation detector materials.
George W. Morey Award Lecture Tuesday, May 19, 8 a.m.
Jianrong Qiu, chair professor, South China University of Technology, Control of the metastable state of glasses.
Glass’s metastable state and topological net-work structure provide the material with good homogeneity, variable composition, and ease of shaping and doping. Qui’s research focuses on enhancing the properties of glass by manipulat-
ing its metastable nature through precise control of micro-structure. In his talk, Qui will highlight recent research on the design and control of optical properties of glass through fast cooling, crystallization, and phase separation, including demonstration of ultra-broadband near-infrared emission for optical amplification and tunable lasers. The talk also will introduce results of 3-D printing of nanostructures or micro-structures inside glasses by femtosecond lasers.
Qiu received his Ph.D. from the noncrystalline solids group at Okayama University (Japan). Qui’s research has focused on understanding the nature of glass and development of tech-niques for realization of novel glass functions, with current research in functional glasses, femtosecond laser interactions with glass, and inorganic luminescent materials. He has pub-lished more than 500 papers in fundamental areas of glass science and technology. Qiu is currently chair professor of Cheung Kong Scholars Programme at South China University of Technology (China).
Norbert J. Kreidl Award for Young ScholarsTuesday, May 19, noon
Michael J. Guerette, postdoctoral researcher, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Structure and nonlinear elasticity of silica
glass fiber under high strains.Guerette has developed in-situ high-resolu-
tion Raman and Brillouin light-scattering tech-niques to study structural signatures and elastic moduli of silica glass fiber under tensile and compressive strains. His work has established a two-point bend test to determine the neutral
axis of a bent fiber by traversing the apical cross-section, which allows for more accurate calculations of strain and stress of a bent fiber. Guerette’s results contribute to a fundamental understanding of the structure and elastic properties of glasses under high strain conditions, which is of critical importance for developing strong glasses.
Guerette received a B.A. in physics from the University of Southern Maine (Portland, Maine), where he studied optical techniques for materials characterization, and a Ph.D. in mate-rials engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, N.Y.). He is researching structure and property relationships of silica glass that are subjected to extreme temperature, pres-sure, and strain. Guerette uses extreme conditions as synthesis parameters and subsequent testing environments to allowed him to gain a unique understanding of the evolution of struc-ture and properties of this archetypal glass former. n
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Qiu
Guerette
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14 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4
Southwest Section to hold June meeting
Mark your calendars for the 2015 meeting of the Southwest Section of The American Ceramic Society, June 3–5, 2015, at the Radisson Hotel Fossil Creek in Fort Worth, Texas. The pro-gram, “Training a New Generation of Ceramic Employees,” will include industry plant trips and technical ses-sions. A companions’ program for fami-lies with children also will be offered. Registration information will be avail-able soon at ceramics.org. n
Students and outreach
Start engineering the winning mug, disc, poster, or talk for MS&T15 contests
Do you have an exciting research project? A winning design for a super strong ceramic mug or disc? Start your preparations now to compete in the Material Advantage student contests at MS&T15, October 4–8, Columbus, Ohio. The contests will include:
•Undergraduate Student Poster Contest
•Undergraduate Student Speaking Contest
•Graduate Student Poster Contest•Ceramic Mug Drop Contest•Ceramic Disc Golf ContestFor more information, contact Tricia
Freshour at [email protected]. n
acers spotlight
ACerS members save more.For members-only discounts, including savings of up to 34% on shipping, join now at ceramics.org.
In memoriam
William C. SpangenbergAlbert E. Paladino
Henry E. HagyJohn G. Matchulat
Some detailed obituaries also can be found on the ACerS website,
www.ceramics.org/in-memoriam.
DeaDlines for upcoming nominations
may 15, 2015Glass and Optical Materials Division’s Alfred R. Cooper Scholars AwardThis $500 award encourages and recognizes undergraduate students who have demonstrated excellence in research, engineering, or study in glass science or technology.
Electronics Division’s Edward C. Henry AwardThis award is given annually to an author of an outstanding paper reporting original work in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society or the Bulletin during the previous calendar year on a subject related to electronic ceramics.
Electronics Division’s Lewis C. Hoffman ScholarshipThe purpose of this $2,000 tuition award is to encourage academic interest and excellence among undergraduate students in ceramics/materials science and engineering. The 2015 essay topic is "Electroceramics for telecommunications."
July 1, 2015 Engineering Ceramics Division’s James I. Mueller Award This award recognizes the accomplishments of individuals with long-term service to the Division or work in engineering ceramics that has resulted in significant industrial, national, or academic impact. The awardee receives a memorial plaque, certificate, and honorarium of $1,000. Contact Mike Halbig at [email protected] with questions.
Engineering Ceramics Division’s Bridge Building AwardThis award recognizes individuals outside of the United States who have made outstand-ing contributions to engineering ceramics, including expansion of the knowledge base and commercial use thereof, contributions to visibility of the field, or international advocacy. The award consists of a glass piece, certificate, and an honorarium of $1,000. Contact Soshu Kirihara at [email protected] with questions.
Engineering Ceramics Division’s Global Young Investigator AwardThis award recognizes an outstanding scientist based on contributions to scientific content and to visibility of the field, and advocacy of the global young investigator and professional scientific forums. Candidates must be ACerS members, 35 years of age or younger, and conducting research in academia, industry, or at a government-funded laboratory. The award consists of a glass piece, certificate, and $1,000. Contact Andy Gyekenyesi at Andrew L. [email protected] with questions.
september 1, 2015 ACerS 2016 Class of Fellows Nominees need to be at least 35 years old and have been members of the Society at least for the past five years continuously. The nominee also must have letters of support from seven sponsors who are ACerS members. Be sure to adhere to nomination and support letter length guidelines—nominations that do not conform will be returned. Scanned and faxed signature forms are permitted in lieu of original mailed signature forms. Previously submitted nomina-tions may be updated, as long as they do not exceed length limitations.
Additional information and nomination forms for these awards can be found at ceramics.org/awards, or by contacting Marcia Stout at [email protected]. n
Award deadlines
15American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
ceramics in energy
Researchers from the University of Luxembourg and Japanese electronics company TDK report progress in photovol-taic research—they have developed a highly conductive oxide film that will help solar cells harness more of the sun’s energy.
Their undoped zinc oxide film boasts increased infrared transpar-ency and creates a higher current that could make for more effi-cient devices.
According to a university news release, the findings, published in Progress in Photovoltaics, represent the first one-step process to pre-pare these films and the first time the prepared films are stable in air.
“The films made at the University of Luxembourg have been exposed to air for one and half years and are still as conductive as when they were fresh prepared,” says Susanne Siebentritt, professor and head of the photovoltaics lab at the University of Luxembourg, in the release. “It is a fantastic result, not only for solar cells, but also for a range of other technologies.”
In previous attempts to create a more conductive solar film, impurities—such as aluminum and its free electrons—were added to pure zinc oxide. But additional electrons mean more absorption of infrared light, and less light means less solar energy can pass through the film to generate current.
The Luxembourg–TDK team modified the process so that the pure, undoped zinc oxide film would have fewer, faster-moving free electrons even without the addition of aluminum.
The team used low-voltage radio frequency (rf) biasing dur-ing deposition to make the films more conductive. “The films prepared with additional rf biasing possess lower free-carrier concentration and higher free-carrier mobility than Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films of the same resistivity, which results in a substantially higher transparency in the near-infrared region,” states the paper’s abstract. “Furthermore, these films exhibit good ambient stability and lower high-temperature stability than the AZO films of the same thickness.”
The result is a pure film with conductivity comparable to those that contain aluminum, but with better transparency and fewer electrons standing in the way of absorption, says lead author Mate�j Hála.
The paper is “Highly conductive ZnO films with high near-infrared transparency” (DOI: 10.1002/pip.2601). n
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Highly conductive, undoped oxide film will help solar cells harness more sunlight
Researchers from the University of Luxembourg and TDK have developed a highly conductive oxide film that will help solar cells harness more of the sun’s energy.
www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 416
ceramics in the environment
In addition to the ways humans have figured out how to make glass, glass forms naturally—for example, from vol-canic activity, meteorite impacts, and lightning strikes. All of these events can produce not just glass, but small glass spheres, or spherules.
New research suggests that natural glass spheres also are born during another natural phenomenon—volcanic lightning.
An international team of scientists studied volcanic ash deposits from two recent eruptions: Mount Redoubt, Alas-ka, in 2009, and Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, in 2010. Both well-documented eruptions were accompanied by volcanic lightning.
The scientists found small glass spherules—on average, about 50 μm in diameter—in ash deposits collected from both volcanos. Although the spherules were few in abundance, composing less than 5% of examined deposits from Mound Redoubt and even less from Ice-land (there scientists identified only two spherules), the findings suggest that glass balls can form from volcanic lighting.
Laboratory experiments mimicking volcanic lightning also produced glass spherules.The spherules’ composition consisted of primarily silicon, with lesser amounts of aluminum, calcium, and iron, the authors report in the paper.
The researchers speculate that these spherules, called lightning-induced volca-nic spherules (LIVS), form in the eruptive
atmosphere from volcanic ash when it is heated rapidly during lightning discharge. The intense heat of the discharge, which can reach temperatures of up to 30,000 K, melts and fuses the particles, which quick-ly cool and form glass.
The open-access paper, published in Geology, is “Lightning-induced volcanic spherules” (DOi: 10.1130/G36255.1). n
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Secondary electron image showing a glass spherule formed in high-voltage flashover experiments to examine the effect of ash contamination on electrical insulators.
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Optimized microstructure removes cold-start emissions
Although catalytic converters signifi-cantly reduce vehicle emissions, they efficiently work only when warm. The time required to heat up catalytic con-verter substrates is called the “light-off” period, and it is estimated that this time period (which lasts for ~30 seconds and up to several minutes) accounts for
~70% of total automobile emissions.Reducing these cold-start emissions is
a top priority in the face of tighter emis-sion standards.
Corning’s innovators have developed a new product, Flora, with an “optimized material microstructure” that is designed to decrease cold-start emissions.
Ken Twiggs, Corning’s innovation program manager for substrates, says in a telephone interview that Flora con-tains the same cordierite material that the company has modified to improve
thermal performance by increasing the material’s porosity. Although that usually means consequently decreasing strength, the experts at Corning were able to maintain strength and performance even with increased substrate porosity.
The material heats up considerably fast-er than existent substrates, reducing the light-off period. According to Corning, the new Flora material reduces the mass
of the substrate so that it warms up 20% faster than existing ceramic substrates.
“The novel material reaches operat-ing temperature quicker than stan-dard substrates, so catalytic converters can clean exhaust emissions earlier without increased fuel or additional precious metal,” according to a Corning press release. n
Corning’s new Flora substrates have increased porosity to reduce cold-start automo-bile emissions.
17American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
The cost to reload nuclear fuel in a typical 1,000 MWe nuclear reactor that refuels on an 18-month cycle is a stagger-ing $40 million, according to the Nucle-ar Energy Institute. Therefore, making fuel last longer can save a lot of money, increase plant efficiency and output, and improve safety of nuclear energy.
New research from Ricardo Castro, ACerS member and materials science professor at University of California, Davis, and a team of his colleagues is providing important insight into how nanomaterials behave under irradia-tion, findings that may help significantly extend the life of nuclear fuels.
The research team, which recently published its findings in Scientific Reports, also includes ACerS members John Dra-zin from UC Davis and Terry Holesinger and Blas Uberuaga from Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The team examined how nanocrys-talline nuclear fuels compare to their microcrystalline counterparts. Although composed of the same material, nanocrys-talline and microcrystalline samples have significantly different grain sizes, a feature that the team found greatly impacts the material’s properties after irradiation.
Although previous research has sug-gested that nanocrystalline ceramics would be more radiation tolerant than bulk (microcrystalline) samples of the same material, the team’s newly pub-lished research confirms these suspicions and, importantly, provides the mecha-nism by which it happens—through reduced accumulation of point defects.
Point defects normally form in a material upon irradiation. But accu-mulation of defects within nuclear fuel negatively affects its behavior and per-formance and, thus, directly impacts its potential life cycle. Decreasing the accu-mulation of defects, therefore, would increase nuclear fuel lifetime.
Castro and the team studied pre-cisely how defects evolve in response to irradiation, measuring the location and migration of individual defects in micro-crystalline and nanocrystalline samples of 10-mol%-yttria-stabilized zirconia. According to Castro, the team used zir-conia because it has a similar structure to nuclear fuel uranium dioxide.
“We saw very little damage in the nanocrystalline samples, and significant damage in the microcrystalline sample. This is because the grain boundaries in
the sample act as sinks for interstitial defects,” Castro says in an email. “That is, nanomaterials accumulate less defects during radiation—a key element to enhance lifetime of nuclear fuel.”
“Since more defects means to shorter lifetime, one can expect longer life for nanocrystalline uranium dioxide fuels as compared with regular micrograined fuels,” Castro says.
The type of defects was different, too: Although microcrystalline samples had interstitial and vacancy defects, the nanocrystalline samples accumulated only vacancies, which clustered to mini-mize energy.
“In nanocrystalline samples, the prob-ability of the defect ‘finding’ a bound-ary is much higher, because grains are smaller,” Castro explains. “Boundaries are stable sinks for the interstitials, but produced vacancies are shared between boundary and bulk, since they can form metastable clusters in the bulk. Therefore, in nanocrystalline samples, one cannot find interstitial defects in the crystal—only vacancies. In the microcrystalline samples, we find both, and in much higher con-centrations (since only a few defects can actually find a boundary).”
Castro explains that the amount of radiation they exposed the test materials to was equivalent to 4.5 years of service life in reactors, despite the fact that nucle-ar fuels are typically replaced within one year in actual service because of damage considerations and safety precautions.
“Since zirconia also finds structural applications, the results can also be used to predict nanoeffects in [nuclear fuel storage conditions, too,] such as core barrels and dry casts. As a reactor vessel, the tested radiation would be equivalent to 21 million years. So again, nanomate-rials would be able to resist much longer than microcrystalline samples.”
The open-access paper is “Radiation tolerance of nanocrystalline ceramics: Insights from yttria-stabilized zirconia” (DOI: 10.1038/srep07746). n
Nanomaterials’ grain boundaries absorb defects, lengthen life of nuclear fuel
advances in nanomaterials
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Electron micrographs of microcrystalline and nanocrystalline samples of yttria-stabilized zirconia, which develop defects in response to irradiation. V indicates vacancy defect, I indicates interstitial defect. Scale bar shows individual grain size.
Research News
18 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4
research briefs
Limpets—a kind of mollusk—are the latest creatures to inspire advances in materials science research. Massachu-setts Institute of Technology research-ers recently discovered that some limpet shells contain unique biological photonic structures that are the first known to be made from inorganic, mineralized structures.
The research zoomed in on one particular variety of fingernail-sized snail, the blue-rayed limpet. Blue-rayed limpets feature a drab shell adorned with brilliant blue stripes, which make the tiny snails stand out even in murky water of the kelp beds they call home along the coasts of Norway, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Portugal, and the Canary Islands.
Although other creatures—such as beetles, butterflies, and birds—also dis-play bright hues, those colors come from photonic structures within the creatures’ shells, scales, or feathers that are com-posed primarily of organic materials.
To investigate the interesting color of blue-rayed limpets’ stripes, researchers first examined the shells
from the outside. Scanning electron micrographs of the shells’ surface showed no struc-tural differences in the striped regions.
Using focused ion beam milling, the researchers then cut out a cross-section of the shell and examined the underlying nanoarchitecture using 2-D and 3-D structural analyses.
The findings show that about 30 μm below the shells’ striped surface, the shell-standard uniform composition of stacked calcium carbonate platelets changed. There, the researchers found wider zigzagged layers of calcium carbon-ate that were underlaid with randomly arranged spherical colloidal particles.
Further analysis of the zigzags’ spac-ing and angles revealed that they were optimally arranged to reflect blue and
green light, acting as an optical interfer-ence filter. And the colloidal spheres served to “absorb transmitted light that would otherwise desaturate the reflected blue color,” according to an MIT press release. The zigzags reflect only blue light, while the remaining light spectrum travels through the shell, where it is absorbed by the colloidal particles, mak-ing the blue look bluer.
“Therefore the absorbing particles underneath the limpet’s multilayer archi-
Silver–glass sandwich structure acts as inexpensive color filterNorthwestern University researchers have created a new technique that can transform silver into any color of the rainbow. Their simple method is a fast, low-cost alternative to color filters currently used in electronic displays and monitors. The filter’s secret lies within its “sandwichlike” structure. The team created a three-layer design, where glass is wedged between two thin layers of silver film. The silver layers are thin enough to allow optical light to pass through, which then transmits a certain color through the glass and reflects the rest of the visible spectrum. By changing the thickness of the glass, the scientists filtered and produced various colors. By making the bottom silver layer even thicker, the scientists found that the structure also acts as a color absorber, because it traps light between the two metal layers. The team demonstrated a narrow bandwidth
superabsorber with 97% maximum absorption, which could have potential applications for optoelectric devices with controlled bandwidth, such as narrow-band photodetectors and light-emitting devices. For more information, see www.mccormick.northwestern.edu.
Ultrathin nanowires can trap electron ‘twisters’ that disrupt superconductorsSuperconductor materials are prized for their ability to carry an electric current without resistance, but this valuable trait can be crippled or lost when electrons swirl into tiny tornado-like formations called vortexes. These disruptive minitwisters often form in the presence of magnetic fields, such as those produced by electric motors. To keep supercurrents flowing at top speed, Johns Hopkins University scientists have figured out how to constrain troublesome vortexes by trapping them within extremely short, ultrathin nanowires. These thin nanowires form one-way highways that allow pairs of electrons to zip ahead at a supercurrent
pace. Vortexes can form when a magnetic field is applied, but the material’s ultrathin design permits only one row of vortexes to fit within a nanowire, which traps the vortexes in place and prevents current disruption. For more information, see www.jhu.edu.
Silicon microfunnels increase the efficiency of solar cellsThe closely packed arrangement of cones in the eyeball has inspired a team of researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin to replicate something similar in silicon as a surface for solar cells and investigate its suitability for collecting and conducting light. Using conventional semiconductor processes, the researchers etched micrometer-sized vertical funnels shoulder-to-shoulder in a silicon substrate. Using mathematical models and experiments, they tested how these types of funnel arrays collect incident light and conduct it to the active layer of a silicon solar cell. The researchers found that funnel-shaped silicon
Striped mollusks hide unique photonic structures that may inspire future displays
A blue-rayed limpet’s shell still shines underwater.
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tecture are not the direct origin of the blue color, which is caused by the multi-layer architecture,” the authors write in the paper. “The particles rather provide an absorbing background for the multi-layer filter to enhance the spectral purity of the reflected blue light.”
According to the paper, the chemical composition of the colloidal particles remains unknown.
In addition to representing the first known biological photonic structures that are composed of inorganic struc-tures, the authors make another interest-ing point: The limpet shells are able to incorporate photonic structures without compromising structural integrity.
“It’s all about multifunctional mate-rials in nature: Every organism—no matter if it has a shell, or skin, or feath-ers—interacts in various ways with the environment, and the materials with which it interfaces to the outside world frequently have to fulfill multiple func-tions simultaneously,” Mathias Kolle, coauthor and MIT mechanical engineer-ing professor, says in the press release. “[Engineers] are more and more focusing on not only optimizing just one single
property in a material or device, like a brighter screen or higher pixel density, but rather on satisfying several … design and performance criteria simultaneously. We can gain inspiration and insight from nature.”
The researchers speculate that their findings could be used to develop similar smart architectures in custom-designed materials.
“Let’s imagine a window surface in a car where you obviously want to see the outside world as you’re driving, but where you also can overlay the real world with an augmented reality that could involve projecting a map and other use-ful information on the world that exists on the other side of the windshield,” Kolle says in the release. “We believe that the limpet’s approach to display-ing color patterns in a translucent shell could serve as a starting point for devel-oping such displays.”
The open-access paper, published in Nature Communications, is “A highly conspicuous mineralized composite photonic architecture in the translu-cent shell of the blue-rayed limpet” (DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7322). n
Long-term measurements of ultrastable glass flow cut short with new process
Researchers from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain), Uni-versity of Rome La Sapienza (Italy), and Politecnico Milano (Italy) have devised a technique to rapidly manufacture “old” glass to mimic glasses aged naturally for millennia and measure viscosity to get a glimpse into very-long-term glass relax-ation behavior.
Glass is a rigid material with an amorphous structure. The question is whether it behaves like a really viscous liquid, or whether it ceases completely to flow at low temperatures. Current glass theories predict that a glass’s liquidlike molecules stop flowing at a certain low temperature, but from a practical per-spective, very high viscosities are nearly impossible to measure.
“We managed to measure relaxation times as large as thousands of years, previously inaccessible to experimental determinations, demonstrating the lack of structural arrest at temperature well below the glass transition point or, equivalently, the lack of the viscos-
structures increase light absorption better than a carpet of nanowires. Further, the arrangement of funnels increases photo-absorption by about 65% in a thin-film solar cell fitted with such an array and is reflected in considerably increased solar cell efficiency, among other improved parameters. For more information, see http://www.helmholtz-berlin.de.
Aerogel catalyst shows promise for fuel cellsGraphene nanoribbons formed into a three-dimensional aerogel and enhanced with boron and nitrogen are excellent catalysts for fuel cells, even in comparison with platinum, according to Rice University researchers. The team chemically unzipped carbon nanotubes into ribbons and then collapsed them into porous, three-dimensional aerogels, simultaneously decorating the ribbons’ edges with boron and nitrogen molecules. The new material provides an abundance of active sites along the exposed edges for oxygen reduction
reactions. In tests involving half of the catalytic reaction that takes place in fuel cells, the team discovered versions with about 10% boron and nitrogen were efficient in catalyzing an oxygen reduction reaction, a step in producing energy from feedstocks , such as methanol. For more information, see www.news.rice.edu.
New process recycles valuable rare-earth metals from old electronicsScientists at the Critical Materials Institute (Ames, Iowa) have developed a two-step recovery process that makes recycling rare-earth metals easier and more cost effective. Building on previous research work done at the Ames Laboratory, the team has developed a two-stage liquid-metal extraction process that uses differences between the solubility properties of elements to separate out rare-earth metals. In the liquid extraction method, scrap metals are melted with magnesium. Lighter atomic weight rare earths, such as neodymium, bind with magnesium and leave the iron scrap and other materials behind. Then
rare earths are recovered from the magnesium through vacuum distillation. In the second step, another material is used to bind with and extract the heavier atomic weight rare earths, such as dysprosium. For more information, see www.ameslab.gov.
Patented zeolite tech could significantly cut carbon dioxide emissionsA new provisionally patented technology from a New Mexico State University researcher could revolutionize carbon dioxide capture and have a significant impact on reducing pollu-tion worldwide. Through research on these zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, or ZIFs, the researcher has synthesized a new subclass of ZIF that incorporates a ring carbonyl group in its organic structure, giving it a vastly greater affinity and selectivity for separating and ad-sorbing carbon dioxide and a more chemically and thermally stable structure. In a simulation study, the new ZIF structure adsorbed more than 100 times more carbon dioxide than other
20 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4
research briefs
ity divergence, calling into question our understanding of the glassy state” says Tullio Scopigno, coordinator of the research and thermodynamics and photonics professor at the University of Rome, in a university press release.
“To this purpose, we had to prepare millenary glasses assembling the mol-ecules one by one, and controlling their age with very high precision. It’s like
obtaining perfectly aged wines without having to wait for maturing,” he says.
Scientists used physical vapor deposi-tion to form ultrastable glass rapidly. The research team then measured the glass’s viscosity using optical and syn-chrontron radiation techniques, which allowed them to measure very high vis-cosity values.
The research suggests that glass viscos-
ity does not diverge at a certain tempera-ture, contrary to what current theories predict. “Scientists have demonstrated experimentally that glass in equilibrium flows visibly at finite temperatures, put-ting into question one of the pillars of the theory on the vitreous state of glass,” states a Barcelona press release.
The results have practical implications for developing more stable pharmaceuti-cal compounds and more thermally stable organic LEDs based on the amorphous state, according to the release.
The paper, published in the Proceed-ings of the National Academy of Sciences, is “Probing equilibrium glass flow up to exapoise viscosities” (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1423435112). n
Materials perform presto- chango in preform-to-fiber transformation
Researchers at MIT have performed a materials magic trick. With a highly technical wave of a wand, they have, for the first time, fabricated multifunctional, multimaterial fibers that have a compo-sition completely different from their starting materials.
similar structures. With negligible difference in adsorption of other gases, such as nitrogen and hydrogen, the material also can sepa-rate carbon dioxide from gas mixtures more selectively. For more information, see www.newscenter.nmsu.edu.
Catalyst destroys common toxic nerve agents quicklyNorthwestern University scientists have developed a robust new material, inspired by biological catalysts, that is extraordinarily effective at destroying toxic nerve agents. The material, a zirconium-based metal–organic framework (MOF), degrades in minutes one of the most toxic chemical agents, and it is predicted to be effective against other agents, too. The catalyst is fast and effective under a wide range of conditions, and the porous MOF structure can store a large amount of toxic gas as the catalyst does its work. The MOF, called NU-1000, has nodes of zirconium—the active catalytic sites—that selectively hydrolyze phosphate–ester bonds in the nerve agent,
rendering it innocuous. The research team’s experimental and computational results suggest that the extraordinary activity of NU-1000 comes from the unique zirconium node and the MOF structure that allows the material to engage with more of the nerve agent and to destroy it. For more information, see www.northwestern.edu.
Cheap, environmentally friendly solar cells produced by minimizing disruptive surface layersNew research from A*STAR Institute (Singapore) demonstrates that high-performance solar cells can be produced using inexpensive materials cupric oxide and silicon by minimizing the copper-rich and interfacial insulating layers in the interface between the materials. On paper, copper(II) oxide and silicon are a perfect pair for producing high-performance solar cells. In practice, however, their performance has been disappointing because of charge recombination, or the tendency of holes and electrons to recombine, which limits production of electricity in the cell. One cause of this problem is the poor
quality of the interface between copper oxide and silicon as the result of silicon oxide on the silicon surface. The A*STAR researchers realized that increasing pressure during the deposition stage of solar cell fabrication enhances crystal and interface quality, thereby reducing charge recombination rate. Using this tactic, the team successfully produced a high-quality solar cell that had a low charge recombination rate. For more information, see www.research.a-star.edu.
Hydrogen atoms pattern magnetic grapheneTheories and experiments have suggested that either defects in graphene or chemical groups bound to graphene can cause it to exhibit magnetism. However, to date, there was no way to create large-area magnetic graphene that could be easily patterned. Now, scientists from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory have found a simple and robust means to magnetize graphene using hydrogen. The scientists placed graphene on a silicon wafer and then dipped it into cryogenic ammonia with a bit of
New research shows that glass viscosity does not diverge at a certain low tempera-ture, contrary to current glass theories.
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The method of drawing thin fibers from a thick block of starting material, called a preform, is nothing new—it is how fiber optics are made. But never before has the composition of the fiber differed from that of the preform.
The MIT researchers have trans-formed a preform made of abundant and inexpensive aluminum and silica into high-quality, pure, crystalline silicon fibers coated with silica.
“It opens new opportunities in fiber materials and fiber devices through value-added processing,” Yoel Fink, pro-fessor of materials science and electrical engineering and head of MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics, says in an MIT press release.
The researchers were testing ways of incorporating metal wires within fibers. When they tested aluminum, the results seemed amiss. “When I looked at the fiber, instead of a shiny metallic core, I observed a dark substance; I really didn’t know what happened,” says lead author Chong Hou.
Fink adds, “My initial reaction might have been to discard the sample alto-gether.” Luckily, the researchers spared the results from the trash bin and instead
examined the material more closely.Careful analysis revealed that the
material was pure crystalline silicon—the stuff of computer chips, solar cells, and other semiconductor devices.
The release explains, “At the high temperatures used for drawing the fiber,
about 2,200 degrees Celsius, the pure alu-minum core reacted with the silica, a form of silicon oxide. The reaction left behind pure silicon, concentrated in the core of the fiber, and aluminum oxide, which deposited a very thin layer of aluminum between the core and the silica cladding.”
lithium. The process added hydrogen atoms to make the material’s surface ferromagnetic. Magnetic strength could be tuned by removing hydrogen atoms with an electron beam, letting the scientists write magnetic patterns into graphene. The process allowed generation of large arrays of magnetic features, which would be particularly useful in applications from information technology to spintronics. With further fine-tuning, this technique could lead to a storage medium with a single hydrogenated-carbon pair storing a single magnetic bit of data, a roughly greater than million-fold improvement over current hard drives. For more information, see www.nrl.navy.mil.
Why a material’s behavior changes as it gets smaller Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, Drexel University, and Georgia Institute of Technology have engineered a new way to observe and study atomic-scale deformation mechanisms in nanomaterials. In doing so, they have revealed an interesting phenomenon
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The resulting silicon-core fibers can be used to fabricate electrical devices inside fibers. “We can use this to get electrical devices, such as solar cells or transistors, or silicon-based semiconductor devices, that could be built inside the fiber,” Hou says in the release.
Bypassing the need to start with a pure silicon preform means a less expen-sive method to generate silicon-core fibers. The team says the method can be used to generate materials beyond sili-con, too, in addition to fabricating spe-
cific structures within fibers. According to the release,
“Fink adds that this is ‘a new way of thinking about fibers, and it could be a way of getting fibers to do a lot more than they ever have.’ As mobile devices continue to grow into an ever-larger segment of the electronics business, for example, this technology could open up new possibilities for electron-ics—including solar cells and microchips—to be incorporat-ed into fibers and woven into clothing or accessories.”
John Ballato, ACerS member and director of the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies at Clemson University (who was not involved in the research), says in the release, “Optical fibers are central to modern communications and information technologies, yet the materials and processes employed in their realization have changed little in 40 years. Of particular importance here is that the starting and ending core composition are entirely different. Pre-
vious work focused on chemical reac-tions and interactions between core and clad phases, but never such a wholesale materials transformation.”
The paper, published in Nature Com-munications, is “Crystalline silicon core fibres from aluminium core preforms” (DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7248). n
Food coloring performs fluid choreography
Stanford University researchers have solved the science behind an incredible yet simple phenomenon—food coloring droplets, when plopped onto a clean glass slide, move and dance as if they are alive.
Although the dance is a seemingly simple phenomenon, getting at the com-plex science behind the choreography was no simple task.
According to a Stanford press release, lead author Nate Cira first witnessed the droplets’ dance back in 2009. Five years, countless experiments, and two additional curious colleagues later, Cira’s research detailing the science behind the movement is published in Nature.
“These droplets sense one another.
research briefs
in a well-known material—the group is the first to observe atomic-level deformation twinning in body-centered cubic tungsten nanocrystals. Under a transmission electron microscope, the researchers welded together two small pieces of individual nanoscale tungsten crystals to create a wire about 20 nm in diameter. This wire was durable enough to stretch and compress while the researchers observed the twinning phenomenon in real time. The team also developed computer models that show the mechanical behavior of the tungsten nanostructure at the atomic level. This information will help researchers theorize why it occurs in nanoscale tungsten and plot a course for examining this behavior in other materials. For more information, see www.news.pitt.edu.
Optical fibers light the way for brainlike computingResearchers from the University of Southampton (U.K.) and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) have demonstrated how neural
networks and synapses in the brain can be reproduced, with optical pulses as information carriers, using special fibers made from chalcogenides. Using conventional fiber-drawing techniques, scientists produced microfibers from chalcogenide (glasses based on sulfur) that possess a variety of broadband photoinduced effects, which allow the fibers to be switched on and off. This optical switching of the glass acts as the varying electrical activity in a nerve cell, and light provides the stimulus to change these properties. This enables switching of a light signal, which is the equivalent to a nerve cell firing. The research paves the way for scalable brainlike computing systems that enable “photonic neurons” with ultrafast signal transmission speeds, higher bandwidth, and lower power consumption than their biological and electronic counterparts. For more information, see www.southampton.ac.uk.
New materials detect neutrons emitted by radioactive materialsResearchers from Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have successfully shown that boron-coated vitreous carbon foam can be used in the detection of neutrons emitted by radioactive materials, which is critical for homeland security. The work builds on a series of experiments that had demonstrated that a process called noble-gas scintillation can be controlled and characterized precisely enough to detect radioactive neutrons. The research team obtained samples of carbon foam coated with boron carbide and placed them in xenon gas. After neutron absorption by boron-10 isotope in the coating occurs, energetic particles are released into the gas and create flashes of light. The researchers determined that neutrons captured deep within the coated foam produce large enough flashes to be detected by light detectors outside the foam. For more information, see www.jhuapl.edu.n
Graduate student Chong Hou holds a bag of drawn silicon fibers that are as thin as 100 μm in diameter.
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They move and interact, almost like liv-ing cells,” says Manu Prakash, a bioengi-neering professor and senior author of the published research, in the release.
The trio of scientists used precise experiments and careful analysis to deci-pher the droplets’ dance moves, includ-ing plotting paths of fluid flow within single droplets using 1-μm-diameter, fluorescently labeled tracer beads.
Food coloring is a two component liquid made from a mixture of water and propylene glycol. The scientists’ painstakingly collected results show that differing rates of evaporation and dif-fering surface tensions between the two components create a complex interplay within the liquid, leading to the drop-lets’ autonomous movements.
Water molecules within the food coloring evaporate more quickly than propylene glycol molecules, and, because they also have higher surface tension, they tend to do so from the lower edges of the droplet. This preferential evapora-tion creates an imbalanced composition within the droplet—more propylene gly-col on bottom, more water on top.
Differing surface tensions between these separated molecules initiates a molecular game of tug-of-war, creat-ing turbulent flow within the droplet that propels it forward. According to the release, the droplets can sense one another’s location from the presence of local evaporated water molecules, mak-ing the droplets seem as if they are chas-ing one another in an epic game of tag.
In addition to solving a scientific curiosity, the results provide insight into how to control a liquid’s wetting behav-ior, an important consideration for also controlling materials’ surface properties. According to the release, the research also may have implications for semicon-ductor manufacturing, self-cleaning solar panels, and other industrial applications.
To see the droplets in action, watch the video at bit.ly/1DB7Q9j.
The article is “Vapour-mediated sens-ing and motility in two-component drop-lets” (DOI: 10.1038/nature14272). n
Food coloring droplets move and dance between marker-drawn boundaries on a glass slide.
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c o v e r s t o r ybulletin
Chalcogenide glass microphotonics:
Stepping into the spotlight
By Juejun Hu, Lan Li, Hongtao Lin, Yi Zou, Qingyang Du, Charmayne Smith, Spencer Novak, Kathleen Richardson,
and J. David Musgraves
Integrated photonics on flexible substrates and on-chip
infrared spectroscopic sensing expand new applications
for chalcogenide glasses beyond phase change data
storage and moldable infrared optics.
Chalcogenide glasses (ChGs) refer to a broad family of inorganic
amorphous materials containing one or more of the Group IV chalcogen elements, namely sulfur, selenium, and tellurium. Although these glasses carry an exotic name compared with their oxide counterparts (e.g., silica glass), they are veteran players on the microelectronics industry stage, func-tioning as the main constituent material for phase change memory (PCM).
PCM technology takes advantage of the relative ease of transforming ChGs, in particular glasses in the Ge-Sb-Te (GST) composition group, between their glassy and crystalline states to store digital information. Gordon Moore, in 1970, building on pioneering work by Ovshinsky et al., coauthored a groundbreaking article featuring the first ChG-based mem-ory—at that time, a 256-bit device1. This was five years after Moore predicted the now-famous Moore’s Law. Since then, PCM technology has evolved from a mere laboratory curiosity to a series of cutting-edge nonvolatile memory modules mar-keted by major companies, including Samsung, Micron, and IBM (Figure 1a). Besides their phase changing behavior, ChGs also are well-known for their exceptional optical properties, including broadband infrared (IR) transparency and large opti-cal nonlinearity, making them popular materials for IR optical components such as windows, molded lenses, and optical fibers (Figure 1b).
The glass materials’ success in the microelectronics indus-try, coupled with their superior optical performance, point to ChG glass microphotonics as the natural next step of technol-ogy evolution. Nevertheless, the unique advantage of ChGs that underpins their memory applications works against their utility in microphotonics. The glasses’ tendency to crystal-
Figure 1. Top left: The periodic table highlighting chalcogen elements (green) and other common constituent elements in ChGs (red). Top right: number of publications with keywords “chalcogenide glass” and “photonic/optical device” found in the Web of Science database. (a) Phase change memory inside multi-chip packages. (b) ChG IR molded lenses, IR windows, and fiber preforms.* (c) Photonic crystal waveguide embedded in a suspended ChG membrane. Hole diameter is 260 nm.† (d) Metamaterial switch operating on phase change behavior of ChGs.***Image courtesy of Wei Zhang, Ningbo University, China†Image courtesy of Steve Madden, Australian National University**Image courtesy of B. Gholipour et al., Adv. Mater., 25[22], 3050–3054 (2013)
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lize can lead to phase inhomogeneity and large optical scattering loss. Poor mechanical robustness, large coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch with semiconductor substrates, toxic-ity of glass constituents elements (in particular arsenic), and long-term chemi-cal and structural stability are other common concerns. Indeed, integrated ChG photonic devices made their debut back in the early 1970s2—almost the same time as the first demonstration of PCM. However, the technology largely remained dormant during the following years until the past decade when inter-est in these materials rejuvenated in the photonics community, evidenced by a dramatic increase in the number of pub-lications since 2000 (Figure 1).
Burgeoning interest has been cata-lyzed by many material and device tech-nology advances that overcome some aforementioned drawbacks of ChG materials. Chemically and structurally stable glasses with arsenic-free composi-tions now are routinely prepared in both bulk and thin-film forms using tech-niques readily scalable to high-volume production, such as microwave synthesis, chemical vapor deposition, and solu-tion processing.3,4 Leveraging standard semiconductor processing methods, such as plasma etching or nanoimprinting,5,6 high-quality photonic components were demonstrated with optical propagation loss down to 0.05 dB/cm.7 Emerging applications, including nonlinear all-opti-cal signal processing, chem-bio sensing, and on-chip light switching and modula-tion (Figure 1(c) and 1(d))—all of which exploit the unique optical characteristics of ChGs—are being actively pursued.8
Flexible photonicsSome shortcomings of the glasses,
however, are more difficult to circumvent because they are inherent to chalcogenide materials. For instance, ChGs consist of
atoms larger than atoms comprising oxide glasses, which makes the interatomic bonds weaker and limits mechanical performance. Mechanical strength of bulk ChGs further deteriorates from the presence of defects, such as inclusions, microcracks, and voids. Therefore, the term “flexible chalcogenide glass photonics” appears to be an oxymo-ron. It seems counterintuitive to choose ChGs as the backbone optical material for photonic integration on flexible polymer substrates, which must sustain extensive deformation such as bending, twisting, and even stretching.
Setting aside mechanical properties, ChGs exhibit a number of features that outclass rival materials when it comes to photonic integration on flexible substrates. First of all, unlike crystalline materials that typically require epitaxial growth to form thin films, amorphous ChGs can be coated directly onto plastic substrates using a plethora of well-established vapor- or solution-phase deposition techniques. Consequently, ChG-based photonic devices can be monolithically fabri-cated on flexible substrates.
This is in stark contrast with con-ventional flexible photonic integration, which generally relies on single-crystal silicon for low-loss light guiding. This material choice dictates a multi-step trans-fer fabrication process that initially fabri-cates devices on a sacrificial layer (usually silica), followed by chemically dissolving the sacrificial layer to release the devices, picking up the floating devices using a poly(dimethylsiloxane) rubber stamp, and finally, transferring them onto the flexible receiving substrate.9,10
Instead, using amorphous chalcogenide materials, we deposit and pattern pho-tonic structures directly on flexible sub-strates. In the world of microfabrication, where “simple is better,” this simplified monolithic integration approach signifi-cantly improves device processing quality,
throughput, and yield. Also, the tempera-ture for processing ChG films is compat-ible with the limited thermal budget stipulated by the polymer substrate. ChG films can be patterned into functional photonic devices at reduced temperatures (typically below 200°C) without compro-mising the resulting thin film’s optical performance, thanks to weak interatomic bonds in chalcogenide compounds and, hence, reduced glass transition and soften-ing temperatures. As an added benefit, the low processing temperature mitigates CTE mismatch between ChGs and substrates. Last but not least, high refractive indexes of ChGs (typically 2 to 3) offer strong con-finement of light by total internal reflec-tion inside microsized waveguide devices, which facilitates compact photonic inte-gration on a chip-scale platform.
The current challenge is to devise a new device architecture that takes advan-tage of these attractive features of ChGs for flexible photonic integration without being handicapped by their mechani-cal fragility. The Hu research group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and coauthors teamed with the Nanshu Lu group at University of Texas at Austin to develop a “multi-neutral-axis” design schematically illustrated in Figure 2(a). According to the design, the polymer sub-strate assumes a laminated “Oreo” geom-etry consisting of three layers: a soft elasto-mer layer with a typical Young’s modulus in the few MPa range sandwiched between two stiff epoxy films with Young’s modu-lus of the order of several GPa.
The large three-orders-of-magnitude modulus mismatch between the layers causes bending strains to be largely absorbed by the elastomer layer so that strains inside epoxy layers are effectively relieved when the compos-ite structure is bent. The hypothesis is validated through finite-element numerical simulations. Figure 2(b) inset shows a contour plot of bending strain
Capsule summary
PROPERTIES HELP AND HINDER
Chalcogenide glasses offer unique optical
properties that oxide glasses cannot, such as
broadband infrared transparency and optical
nonlinearity. However, compositions can be toxic
and mechanical properties are poor.
BREAKTHROUGH
Versatile techniques for depositing chalcogen-
ide glass thin films and clever device structure
design provide new, scalable pathways for
fabricating devices.
PAYOFF
Integrating chalcogenide glasses on a range
of substrates opens the possibility to design
innovative devices, such as flexible photonics
and on-chip infrared spectroscopic sensors, with
broad optical functionality.
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Chalcogenide glass microphotonics: Stepping into the spotlight
distribution inside such a sandwich structure, where strains concentrate in the elastomer layer. Further theoreti-cal analysis11,12 reveals that the classical Kirchhoff assumptions that describe stress and deformation in thin plates no longer hold in laminates, such as these, composed of materials with drastically different elastic properties.
Strain distribution in the sandwiched structure follows a zigzag pattern across the laminate thickness and exhibits multiple neutral planes where the strains vanish (Figure 2(b)). When photonic devices are positioned at the neutral planes, strains exerted on the devices are nullified even if the multilayer structure deforms, thereby rendering the structure extremely flexible. More importantly, the locations of neutral planes can be config-ured as desired across the stack thickness by tuning layer thicknesses and elastic moduli. Therefore, laminate design enables rational control of strain–optical coupling in flexible photonic structures and allows large degrees of freedom for photonic device placement to meet diverse application needs.
Figure 3(a) shows the process to fabri-cate flexible photonic components with the sandwiched structure shown in Figure 2(b). The process starts with spin coating an epoxy polymer layer onto a rigid han-dler substrate, usually silicon wafers coated with oxide. The polymer-coated handler wafer provides a solid, planar support on which to pattern photonic devices, leverag-ing standard microfabrication techniques similar to those used for computer-chip manufacturing. The preferred composition for this application is Ge
23Sb
7S
70 (GSS)
glass. Although GSS glass is a close rela-tive of GST, replacing tellurium with the glass-former sulfur significantly improves thermal and structural stability of the glass against crystallization. Single-source ther-
mal evapora-tion13 is used to deposit the GSS film. The substrate is held at room temperature throughout the deposition process. A
second epoxy layer, whose thickness is cho-sen to locate devices at the neutral plane, is subsequently deposited. In the last step, devices embedded inside the epoxy layer are delaminated from the handler substrate using polyimide-film tape (in this case, Kapton Tape by DuPont) to form a free-standing, flexible photonic chip shown in Figure 3(b). The bilayer polyimide-film tape consists of a polyimide substrate and a silicone adhesive layer. The final flexible chip has the desired structure, with a soft silicone layer sandwiched between two stiff epoxy-and-polyimide layers.
ChG flexible photonic devices fabri-cated using this approach considerably outperform their traditional counterparts in optical characteristics, mechanical robustness, and processing throughput and yield. Light propagation loss inside flexible devices was quantified by measur-ing optical transmission characteristics of microdisk resonator structures, which are miniscule optical reservoirs capable of trapping light via multiple total internal reflections in a closed path—in the same way that sound waves cling to the walls of the whis-pering gallery at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
Resonators are characterized by an important parameter called “quality factor” or “Q-factor,” which scales inversely with optical loss inside the devices. Our mono-lithic fabrication route offers extremely
high device yields. We have tested over 100 resonator devices randomly selected from samples fabricated in several batches. All operated as designed after fabrication. The Figure 4(a) histogram shows distribution of Q-factors in the flex-ible resonators measured near 1,550-nm wavelength. Our best device exhibited a Q-factor as high as 4.6 3 105, the highest value ever reported for photonic devices on plastic substrates. To test the mechani-cal reliability of the flexible devices, opti-cal transmittance of the resonators was measured after repeated bending cycles with a bending radius of 0.5 mm. Figure 4(b) shows that there were minimal varia-tions in Q-factor and extinction ratio after multiple bending cycles. Our fatigue test, consisting of up to 5,000 bending cycles at a radius of 0.8 mm, resulted in a 0.5 dB∙cm–1 increase in waveguide propaga-tion loss and a 23% decrease in resonator Q-factor. Optical microscopy revealed no crack formation or interface delamination in the layers after 5,000 bending cycles.11 These results demonstrate the superior mechanical robustness of ChGs-based flexible devices. In comparison, tradition-al flexible photonic components exhibit only moderate flexibility with bending radii typically no less than 5 mm.
The flexible photonics platform opens
Figure 2. Bending of (a) a simple uniform beam and (b) a sandwiched “Oreo” structure with large elastic mismatch. Strain distributions inside the layers are superimposed on the plots. Inset (b) shows a contour plot of strain distribution inside a trilayer structure computed using the finite-element method.
Figure 3. (a) Fabrication process for ChG flexible photonic devices. (b) Example of a flexible photonic chip.11
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many emerging appli-cation opportunities. For example, biopho-tonics capitalizes on mechanical flexibility to facilitate photonic system interfacing with soft biological tissues. For photonic system assembly, flexible components are ideal for space-constrained packaging. On the manufacturing side, flexible photonics integrate seamlessly into large-area roll-to-roll production processes. We also have harnessed device mechanical flexibility to demonstrate reconfigurable photonics, where a component’s optical response can be tuned by controlled deformation. For example, a focusing-dispersive element with tunable focal length was realized by attaching a flexible diffractive grating to surfaces with various curvatures (Figure 5).
Chemical sensorsFlexible photonics represent a case in
point where we capitalize on glasses’ low-temperature monolithic deposition and processing capacity to enable photonic integration on unconventional substrates. We can extend the approach to other functional substrates, which is another advantage of ChGs over conventional photonic materials such as silicon, silica, or LiNbO
3. Conventional optical materi-
als have to be grown either epitaxially (for crystalline materials such as silicon and LiNbO
3) or at high temperatures
(silica) that are incompatible with flexible substrate materials. In another example that showcases the “substrate-blind” integration paradigm, we demonstrated a ChG-on-CaF
2 platform for mid-infrared
spectroscopic sensing of chemical species. Silica and polymers, the classical material choices for waveguide claddings, become opaque in the mid-IR range (4–10 μm). ChGs, on the other hand, exhibit low optical loss across the mid-IR band, which qualifies them as ideal material candi-dates for IR spectroscopic sensors.14–17 For example, GSS glass transmits in the 0.6–11 μm wave band. To expand the acces-sible wavelength regime of glass-based
photonic devices, we chose CaF2, an IR
crystal with a low index of refraction (n=1.4) and a broad transparency window of 0.3–8 μm, as the substrate material in place of silica or polymers.
In our mid-IR sensing demonstra-tion, we again elect high-Q-factor glass optical resonators for spectroscopic sensing. Their unique ability to store photons for an extended period of time leads to a folded optical path that can be several orders of magnitude longer than the device’s physical dimensions, thereby significantly boosting interac-tions between light and target mol-ecules to be detected. During operation, optical absorption from the molecules results in attenuation of light circulat-ing inside the resonators and signals the presence of target species in the sensing medium to which resonators are exposed. The wavelength and line shape of measured absorption spectra
identify the molecule type, whereas optical absorption strength quantifies molecular concentration.
Similar to the flexible photonics device fabrication process, glass-on-CaF
2
resonators were prepared by thermal evaporation of GSS glass film onto CaF
2 substrates followed by lithographic
patterning to define sensor structures. Figure 6(a) shows a top-view micrograph of a microdisk resonator made of GSS glass on CaF
2 coupled to a feeding wave-
guide. Optical characteristics of these devices were interrogated using a tunable quantum cascade laser (QCL) in the 5.2∙5.4-μm mid-IR band (Figure 6(b)). Measurement revealed a high Q-factor up to 4 3 105 in the resonators (Figures 6(c) and 6(d)), which corresponds to a low propagation loss of 0.26 dB∙cm–1 and represents the best performance attained in on-chip mid-IR resonators. Such a low optical loss contributes to increased
Figure 4. (a) Q-factor distribution measured in flexible microdisk resonators. (b) Q-factors and extinction ratios of the resonator after multiple bending cycles at a bending radius of 0.5 mm.11
Figure 5. (a) and (c) Schematic diagrams illustrating the experimental setup used to map diffraction patterns from flexible gratings that were attached onto (a) a flat sample holder and (c) a curved sample holder. (b) and (d) Diffraction patterns of a collimated and expanded 532-nm green laser beam by gratings mounted on (b) a flat surface and (d) a curved surface. (Images courtesy of Y. Zou, et al., Adv. Opt. Mater. 2, 759-764 (2014)).
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Chalcogenide glass microphotonics: Stepping into the spotlight
optical path length inside the device and, thus, is critical to improve the sensitivity of spectroscopic detection.
To demonstrate proof-of-concept, we immersed the resonator sensor in ethanol–cyclohexane solutions of varying ethanol concentrations while monitor-ing the resonator optical response in situ. Ethanol exhibits a weak absorption feature at 5.2 μm wavelength (relative to its main IR absorption band at 3.9 μm, which has a peak absorption coefficient of 2900 cm–1), whereas cyclohexane is almost transparent at the wavelength.18
When ethanol concentration increased, we observed a progressive decrease of optical resonance intensity (Figure 6(e) inset). Thus, we infer the excess optical absorption induced by ethanol (Figure 6(e)). The absorption coefficient of ethanol in cyclohexane was extrapolated by a linear fit of the plot to be (74 ± 3.4) cm–1, which agrees well with measurement results (78 cm–1) obtained on a bench-top Fourier transform infra-red spectrophotometer. The resonator-enhanced sensing mechanism readily can be generalized to spectroscopic analysis of other biological and chemical species in the mid-IR.
Tuning functionality with multilayer devices
Flexible glass-on-polymer and glass-on-CaF
2 platforms discussed so far involve
only single-layer photonic devices. The substrate-blind integration strategy, how-ever, can be extended to process even more complex stacked multilayer struc-tures, again thanks to the amorphous nature and low processing temperature of ChGs, which minimize thermal and struc-tural mismatch between different layers. Using a repeated deposition-patterning-planarization sequence illustrated in Figure 7(a), we successfully demonstrated an array of multilayer photonic devices, such as add-drop optical filters, adiabatic interlayer couplers, and 3-D woodpile photonic crystals.11 For example, Figure 7(b) shows a tilted-view scanning elec-tron microscopy cross-sectional image of a woodpile photonic crystal fabricated using this approach.
The photonic crystal comprises four layers of GSS glass strips (marked with various colors) embedded inside an epoxy polymer, where the strip pattern is rotated in-plane by 90° between consecu-tive layers to form a tetragonal lattice structure. To study structural integrity of
the photonic crystal, a collimated 532-nm green laser beam was incident on the photonic crystal. Figure 7(c) shows dif-fracted light spots, the optical analog of the Laue pattern in X-ray crystallography. Excellent agreement between diffraction spot locations predicted by the Bragg diffraction equation and experimental measurements confirmed long-range structural order in the photonic crystal.
To realize such novel function beyond single layers and to be able to tune functionality in the z-direction, the team examined strategies to design and fabri-cate passive and active (doped) layers using film processing routes that maintain dop-ant dispersion. Recent efforts investigated a novel approach based on aerosols of glass solution to create spatially defined single and multilayer structures that are compatible with the variety of substrates discussed previously. In electrospray film deposition of ChGs, a solution is atom-ized into a fine mist of relatively mono-dispersed droplets through an electric field. This deposition method has the potential to fabricate graded refractive index (GRIN) coatings by tailoring the index of subsequent coating layers, using a 3-D printinglike approach via two simple methods. First is the separate deposition of two oppositely sloped (shaped) films of various ChG compositions using a com-puter numerical control system that con-trols motion between substrate and spray. Second is the use of multiple spray heads.
Unexplored potential of ChGsWe have shown how we use ChG
materials’ processing versatility, broadband optical transparency, and monolithic integration capability to enable novel microphotonic functionalities, such as flex-ible photonics, IR spectroscopic sensing, and multilayer integration. Through smart material engineering, processing design, and device innovation, we have overcome challenges traditionally linked with ChGs. For example, substituting arsenic with germanium and tellurium with sulfur improves the chemical and structural stability of chalcogenides against oxida-tion and crystallization while reducing the components’ toxicity. Low processing tem-perature coupled with appropriate choice of bottom cladding material minimizes
Figure 6. (a) Top-view micrograph of a GSS-on-CaF2 microdisk resonator. Inset shows the coupling region between feeding waveguide and microdisk. (b) Experimental setup used to measure mid-IR optical transmission through glass-on-CaF2 sensor devices. (c) Mid-IR transmission spectrum of a micro-disk resonator. (d) The same spectrum near an optical resonance at 5252 nm wavelength (red box in (c)). Open circles represent experimental data, whereas the solid line is the doublet-state resonance spectrum fitted by coupled mode theory, which yields an intrinsic Q-factor of 4 × 105 and an equiva-lent propagation loss of 0.29 dB·cm–1. (e) Optical resonance decreases with increasing ethanol concentration. (images courtesy of Reference 14 authors).
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CTE mismatch and prevents delamination in multilayer structures. The multi-neutral-axis device design allow us to create pho-tonic components out of brittle glasses yet bestow on them extreme mechanical flex-ibility, a feature polymers claimed almost exclusively in the past.
This article reveals only the tip of the iceberg compared with what ChG materi-als have to offer the microphotonics field.
Examples of exciting new applications not covered in this article include non-linear optical interactions in ChGs for ultrafast all-optical signal processing on a chip,19 photosensitivity in glasses (a use-ful attribute for device fabrication), and postfabrication trimming.20 Our groups are exploring monolithic and hybrid integration of chalcogenide devices with 2-D materials (e.g., graphene), III-V semi-conductor devices, and complex oxides to broaden the glass microphotonic platform’s functionality. We foresee that ChGs also will make their way into semi-conductor integrated photonic circuits to confer unique optical functions, such as IR transmission, nonlinearity, or trim-ming by incorporating the materials into a photonic chip manufacturing process. This follows the same trend we observed in the microelectronic integrated circuit industry, which initially used only a hand-ful of elements in the 1980s but now has assimilated more than half the Mendeleev periodic table into the manufactur-ing process to keep pace with Gordon Moore’s prediction. Now it is time to see if ChGs—the magic materials that under-lie another of Moore’s seminal inven-tions—will be able to make their mark on microphotonics in coming years.
About the authorsJuejun Hu is Merton C. Flemings
Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, Cambridge, Mass. Lan Li, Hongtao Lin, Yi Zou, and Qingyang Du are associated with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT, and with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Del. Charmayne Smith, Spencer Novak, and Kathleen Richardson are associated with the College of Optics and Photonics, CREOL, Department
of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Fla. J. David Musgraves is associated with IRradiance Glass Inc., Orlando, Fla. Direct correspondence to Juejun Hu [email protected].
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Figure 7. (a) Process flow of multilayer photonic structures in ChG films. (b) Tilted SEM view of a 3-D woodpile photonic crystal showing excellent structural integrity. (c) Diffraction patterns of a collimated 532-nm green laser beam from the photonic crys-tal. Red dots are diffraction patterns simulated using the Bragg diffraction equation.11
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An analysis of glass–ceramic research and commercialization
By Maziar Montazerian, Shiv Prakash Singh, and Edgar Dutra Zanotto
Glass has been an important mate-rial since the early stages of civiliza-
tion. Glass–ceramics are polycrystalline mate-rials obtained by controlled crystallization of certain glasses that contain one or more crystalline phases dispersed in a residual glass matrix. The distinct chemical nature of these phases and their nanostructures or microstructures have led to various unusual combinations of properties and applications in the domestic, space, defense, health, elec-tronics, architecture, chemical, energy, and waste management fields.1–3
In 1739, French chemist René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur was the first person known to produce partially crystallized glass.4 Réaumur heat-treated soda–lime–silica glass bottles in a bed of gypsum and sand for several days, and the process turned the glass into a porcelain-like opaque mate-
rial. Although Réaumur had succeeded in converting glass into a polycrystalline mate-rial, unfortunately the new product sagged, deformed, and had low strength because of uncontrolled surface crystallization.4,5
The late Stanley Donald Stookey of Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated, Corning, N.Y.) discovered glass–ceramics in 1953.6–8 Stookey accidentally crystallized Fotoform—a photosensitive lithium silicate glass containing silver nanopar-ticles dispersed in the glass matrix. From the parent glass Fotoform, Stookey and colleagues at Corning Incorporated, which holds the first patent on glass–ceramics, derived the glass–ceramic Fotoceram. The main crystal phases of this glass-ceramic are lithium disilicate (Li
2Si
2O
5) and quartz (SiO
2).
Since then, the glass–ceramics field has matured with funda-mental research and development detailing chemical composi-tions, nucleating agents, heat treatments, microstructures, proper-ties, and potential applications of several materials.3,5,9–15 A recent article revealed that the term “crystallization” is the top keyword in the history of glass science.16 However, researchers still are keen to understand further the kinetics of transformation from glass to a polycrystalline material and to study the associated changes in thermal, optical, electrical, magnetic, and mechanical properties. Nonetheless, several commercial glass–ceramic inno-vations already have been marketed for domestic and high-tech uses, such as transparent and heat-resistant cookware, fireproof doors and windows, artificial teeth, bioactive materials for bone replacement, chemically and mechanically machinable materials, and electronic and optical devices.
Review articles surveyed the properties and existing uses of glass–ceramics and suggested several possible new applications for these materials.9–17 Here we report on the results of a statistical
Ceran glass-ceramic cooktop by Schott North America.
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31American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
search evaluating the evolution of scientific and technological research and develop-ment of glass–ceramics during the past 60 years. We made an electronic search of published research articles, granted patents, and patent applications since the discovery of glass–ceramics in 1953.
For a more in-depth assessment of recent trends and developments in this field, we manually searched and reviewed 1,000 granted patents and applications filed during the past decade. Here we break down these numbers into main property classes (thermal, mechanical, optical, electrical, etc.) and proposed applications. The overall objective of this short article is to give students, academics, and indus-trial researchers some insight about the evolution of and perspectives for appli-cations of this class of materials. We hope it also may be a useful source of ideas for new research projects.
Database searchWe surveyed the Scopus Elsevier, Free
Patents Online (FPO), and Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI) databases for patents and papers published in glass–ceramic science and technology. We searched the Scopus database for scientific publications 1955—2014 using the keywords “sittal”, “vitroceramic*”, “glass–ceramic*”, or “glass ceramic*” in the article title or, in a separate search, in the title, abstract, and keywords. Keywords “glass–ceramic” and “glass ceramic” predominate by a large margin. We then sorted articles by publication year, affiliation, and country.
Additionally, we extracted DWPI records of granted patents by searching for keywords “glass–ceramic*”or “glass ceramic*” in patent titles from 1968—July 2014. We ranked the number of pub-lished patents per year as well as the most prolific companies from the records.
Further, we searched the same key-
words in patent titles from FPO records from January 2001—December 2013. In this case, we searched granted patents and patent applications and found 1,964 records. After sorting and eliminating sis-ter patents submitted to different offices, we identified 1,000 single granted patents and applications, which we categorized manually according to main property or proposed use of the glass–ceramic.
Published glass–ceramic papersSearching Scopus for keywords only
in article titles provided cleaner results than searching within abstracts, but this limited search failed to capture all glass–ceramic publications. The search yielded 7,040 papers, which, thus, represents only a lower bound. Conversely, expand-ing the selected keyword search to article titles, abstracts, and keywords yielded 12,806 papers, including several that are only minimally related to glass–ceram-ics. Therefore, the actual number of
glass–ceramic publications lies between these two extremes. Figure 1 shows that, using either search strategy, the number of articles shows some annual fluctua-tion, although both strategies reveal an exponential increase. Currently, about 500–800 papers on glass–ceramics are published annually.
The 40 most prolific authors (not shown here) include researchers with 40–130 published articles on several aspects of glass–ceramic materials. The first paper on glass–ceramics listed in the Scopus database is authored by W.W. Shaver and S.D. Stookey in 1959, which proposes the name of Pyroceram for the new class of materi-als.18 A second paper, authored by G.W. McLellan in the same year, discusses pos-sible applications of glass–ceramics in the automotive industry.19
Figure 2 reveals the number of publica-tions authored by researchers with par-ticular affiliations, most of which are uni-versities. Kyoto University in Japan holds
Capsule summary
background
Glass–ceramics are polycrystalline materials
derived from glass with distinct properties that
give them unique applications in domestic,
space, defense, health, electronics, architecture,
chemical, energy, and waste management.
analysis
Through a database search of published papers
and filed patents, the authors statistically evalu-
ate the evolution of scientific and technological
research and development of glass–ceramics
during the past 60 years.
key point
The field of glass–ceramics has grown during the
past 60 years and continues to show signs of ex-
ponential growth. Analysis of patent applications
has identified a few areas of promising growth
that may serve as a guide for future commercial
endeavors in this field of unique materials.
Figure 1. Number of published articles per year extracted from the Scopus database by searching the keywords “sittal”, “vitroceramic*”, “glass–ceramic*”, or “glass ceramic*” in article titles (blue) or in article titles, abstracts, or keywords (red).
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an analysis of glass–ceramic research and commercialization
the top position with 157 articles, fol-lowed by several Chinese and European universities and two institutions in emerg-ing countries—Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran, Iran, and the National Research Center in Cairo, Egypt. The only company in this ranking is Corning Incorporated, and it is no sur-prise that most scientific research in this field is conducted in academia. However, patent rankings tell a different story.
In terms of statistics by country, Chinese investigators lead glass–ceramic
research with 1,557 papers, followed by researchers from the U.S. (718 papers), Japan (663 papers), Germany (462 papers), and the United Kingdom (404 papers). Most countries in this ranking are industri-ally developed. However, it is somewhat surprising that several emerging countries, such as India, Brazil, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, and Romania, also are well ranked.
Patents for glass–ceramicsIn addition to publications related to
glass–ceramics, analysis of the status of glass–ceramic patents com-piles an overall view of techno-logical develop-ments in the field. Similar to searching the publica-tions database, searching the DWPI patent database for key-words “glass–ceramic*”or “glass ceram-ic*” only in patent titles provided clean-er results, but this limited search failed to capture all glass–ceramic
patents. However, this particular search engine provided no other pos-sible search strategies.
With this restrictive search strategy, the total number of glass–ceramics patents granted—which thus represents a minimum—up to December 2013 is 4,882. Although granted patents have fluctuated somewhat over the years, the number has steadily grown in the past two decades (Figure 3). During 1975–1979 and 2003–2008, total patents declined monotonically, whereas the number increased 1994–1998. Overall, about 220 new patents are granted each year. Our analysis reveals that glass–ceramic technology is growing rapidly and several potential new products are emerging every year.
Further, we searched DWPI for key-words “glass–ceramic*” or “glass ceram-ic*” in patent titles and found that sev-eral companies around the world manu-facture glass–ceramic products (Table 1). Several companies hold glass–ceramics patents, but only some are commercial-izing such products. Likewise, some com-panies manufacture and sell commercial glass–ceramics, although they are not among the top patenting companies.
Figure 4 shows the 20 most prolific companies from DWPI that were grant-ed glass–ceramic patents in 1968–2014. Schott AG, Corning Incorporated, Kyocera, and Nippon Electric Glass hold the top four positions. All others are Japanese, German, or American compa-nies, with the exception of dental glass–ceramic company Ivoclar Vivadent from Liechtenstein. Some companies, such as Owens–Illinois, were very active during the 1970s—when they filed several pat-ents on glass–ceramics—but then halted their activity in this field. However, most of these companies still engage in R&D and manufacture various types of com-mercial glass–ceramics.5,9
Commercial applications of glass–ceramics
DWPI allows automatic breakdown of granted patents per field, which reveals a wide spectrum of knowledge, spanning from traditional fields, such as chemis-try, engineering, and materials science, to unexpected areas, such as polymer
Num
ber
of p
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ts
Year
Figure 3. Number of patents granted per year, extracted from the DWPI database by searching for keywords “glass–ceramic*” or “glass ceramic*” in the patent title.
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Figure 2. Total glass–ceramic publications in the Scopus database from 1955–July 2014, sorted by affiliation. Counted articles contained keywords “sittal”, “vitroceramic*”, “glass–ceramic*”, or “glass ceramic*” in the article title.
Number of papers
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science, food science, and environmental fields (Figure 5).
For a more comprehensive view, we manually searched the FPO database, which allows separate searching of granted patents and patent applications, by reading abstracts (and some text) of about 2,000 of the most recently filed and granted patents.
Glass–ceramics with specific properties, such as thermal (e.g., low thermal expan-sion, insulating, high thermal stability, etc.), electrical, (e.g., high ionic conductivity), or optical (e.g., high transparency, high luminescence efficiency) properties, have attracted considerable attention from indus-tries and technologists in the past decade. This special interest has resulted in more than 550 patents on various glass–ceramics intended for electronic components, wiring board substrates, cooktop panels, insulators, sealants, heat reflector substrates, and more (Table 2). Some patents also have been granted for glass–ceramics with architec-tural, biological, magnetic, armor, energy, nuclear, and waste immobilization applica-tions and for applications in combined fields, such as electrooptics.
Overall trends in current patent appli-cations—which are more recent than granted patents—are decreased electrical, electronic, and magnetic applications and increased dental, biomedical, opti-cal, energy, chemical, waste manage-ment, refractory, and “other” applica-tions for glass–ceramics. These results suggest that those areas are potential thrust fields for advanced technology. The above-listed trend applications are in line with current demands of new products, suggesting prospects for indus-trial growth in these areas.
Future growthA great deal already is known about
glass–ceramics, but several challenges and opportunities in glass–ceramics research and development remain to be explored for desired properties and new applica-tions of these materials. A few important areas for further exploration follow.
Fundamental and technological studies• Search for new or more potent
nucleating agents for the synthesis of glass–ceramics using data mining tech-niques, theoretical equations, and mod-
Table 1. Prominent companies and some of their glass–ceramic inventions5,9–11
Company Product Crystal type Applications
Schott, Germany
Foturan Lithium silicate Photosensitive and etched patterned materials Zerodur β-quartz(ss) Telescope mirrors Ceran/Robax β-quartz(ss) Cookware, cooktops, and oven doors Nextrema Lithium aluminosilicate Fireproof window and doors
Corning Inc., U.S.
Pyroceram β-spodumene(ss) Cookware Fotoform/Fotoceram Lithium silicate Photosensitive and etched patterned materials Cercor β-spodumene(ss) Gas turbines and heat exchangers Centura Barium silicate Tableware Vision β-quartz(ss) Cookware and cooktops 9606 Cordierite Radomes MACOR Mica Machinable glass–ceramics 9664 Spinel–enstatite Magnetic memory disk substrates DICOR Mica Dental restorations
Nippon Electric
Glass, Japan
ML-05 Lithium disilicate Magnetic memory disk substrates Neoparies β-wollastonite Architectural glass–ceramics Firelite β-quartz(ss) Architectural fire-resistant windows Neoceram N-11 β-spodumene(ss) Cooktops and kitchenware Narumi β-quartz(ss) Low-thermal-expansion glass–ceramics Neoceram N-0 β-quartz(ss) Color filter substrates for LCD panels Cerabone A-W Apatite–wollastonite Bioactive implants Ivoclar Vivadent IPS Series Leucite/lithium Dental restorations AG, Liechtenstein silicate/leucite–apatite
Eurokera, U.S./France Keralite β-quartz(ss) Fire-resistant windows and doors
Eclair β-quartz(ss) Transparent architectural glass–ceramics Keraglas β-quartz(ss) Cookware and cooktops Asahi Glass Co., Japan Cryston β-wollastonite Architectural glass–ceramics Kyushu Co., Japan Crys-Cera Calcium metaphosphate Dental restorations Leitz, Wetzlar Co., Germany Ceravital Apatite Bioactive glass–ceramics
Ohara Inc., Japan LiC-GC Nasicon(ss) Lithium-conducting glass–ceramics
TS-10 Lithium disilicate Magnetic memory disk substrates Owens-Illinois, U.S. Cer-Vit β-spodumene(ss) Cookware and kitchenware Pentron Ceramic Inc., U.S. 3G OPC Lithium disilicate Dental crowns PPG, U.S. Hercuvit β-spodumene(ss) Cookware and domestic-ware
Vitron, Germany Bioverit series and Mica/mica–apatite/ Biomaterials and machinable glass–ceramics Vitronit phosphate type Sumikin Photon, Japan Fotovel/ Photoveel Mica type Dental and insulator materials Yata Dental MFG Co., Japan Casmic Apatite–magnesium titanate Bioactive and dental glass–ceramics
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Number of patents
Figure 4. Twenty com-panies with the most glass–ceramic patents granted 1968–2014, extracted from records in the DWPI database by search-ing for the keywords “glass–ceramic*” or “glass ceramic*” in the title.
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an analysis of glass–ceramic research and commercialization
eling rather than empirical trials;• Development of stronger, chemically
resistant chalcogenide glass–ceramics with novel electric and optical properties;
• Development of new or improved crystallization processes, such as microwave heating, biomimetic assemblage of crystals, textured crystallization, laser crystallization, and electron beam crystallization;
• Deeper understanding and control
of photothermal-induced nucleation;• Engineering adequate matrices for
development of hierarchical nanostruc-tured glass–ceramics based on variations in size, distribution, and composition of nanoscale crystals;
• Confinement of the glassy phase (nanoglass) within the glass–ceramic matrix by reverse engineering based on novel synthesis processes;
• Fabrication of 2-D and 3-D single crystals within glass matrices via direct laser heating or photothermal-induced crystallization; and
• Understanding the role of the residual glass phase in the properties of glass–ceramics.
Desired material properties• Highly bioactive glass–ceramics for
tissue engineering or drug delivery and for preventive treatments that slow down dete-rioration and maintain health of tissues;
• Development of harder, stiffer, stronger, and tougher glass-ceramics, for instance, HV > 11 GPa, E > 150 GPa, four-point-fracture strength > 400 MPa, and K
IC >3 MPa∙m1/2;
• Nanocrystalline glass–ceramics with greater transparency in the ultraviolet, visible, or infrared spectral regions;
• Highly transparent and efficient scintillator glass–ceramics; and
• Glass–ceramics with ionic conduc-tivities >10–3 S/cm.
Possible applications• Glass–ceramics for solar cell appli-
cations with improved optical, thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties for use as substrates, matrices, and solar light concentrators;
• Glass–ceramics as self-healing seal-ant materials with high longevity for fuel cells and electronic devices;
• Glass–ceramics as smart architectur-al building materials with antifungal and self-cleaning properties; automatic energy generators for building energy consump-tion, multisensor security, and antifire systems; and materials with dynamic color-changing abilities;
• Glass–ceramic compositions for immobilization of nuclear waste products;
• Glass–ceramics to replace existing materials (polymers) currently used in a variety of electronic products, such as computers, mobile phones, IC chips, and mother boards, to address future environmental problems associated with electronics waste;
• Glass–ceramics for nanopatterning and nanolithography in high-tech materials;
• Glass–ceramics for treatment of cancer using thermal or photosensitive therapies;
• Glass–ceramics for components in space research and similar sophisti-
Table 2. Proposed uses for glass–ceramics in patent applications and granted patents in FPO database from January 2001–July 2014
Subject Number of patents Proposed uses Applications Granted
Thermal 141 145 Cookware, cooktops, hot plates, low-thermal-expansion glass–ceramics, sealants, and fireproof windows and doors Electrical 52 95 Solid electrolytes, lithium-ion-conducting glass–ceramics, and semiconductor substrates Electronics 24 96 Electronic components, substrates for electronic devices, and plasma display panels Optical 63 55 Transparent glass–ceramics, luminescent glass–ceramics, colored glass–ceramics, lasers, lens, and mirrors Dental 38 21 Dental restorations and dental prosthetic devices Mechanical 29 30 Abrasives, machinable glass–ceramics, and high-strength glass–ceramics Chemical 25 23 Catalytically active glass–ceramics, photocatalyst supports, corrosion-resistant glass– ceramics, ion-exchanged glass–ceramics, and glues Architecture 15 13 Decorative substrates and building construction glass–ceramics Biology 17 10 Bioactive scaffolds, antimicrobial glass–ceramics, antiinflammatory glass–ceramics, and glass–ceramic powders for cosmetics Energy 10 7 SOFCs, LEDs, and solar cells Magnetic 6 11 Magnetic head actuators, magnetic information storage media, and substrates for magnetic storage devices Armor 8 7 Bulletproof and missileproof glass–ceramic components and bulletproof vests
Subj
ect a
rea
Number of patents
Figure 5. DWPI database breakdown of number of patents granted in various fields by searching keywords “glass–ceramic*” or “glass ceramic*” in patent titles from 1968–2014.
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cated environments;• Ultrafast crystallizable chalcogenide
glass–ceramics for rewritable optical disks and PRAM devices; and
• Glass–ceramics with low thermal conductivity, high electrical conductivity, and adequate Seebeck coefficient developed into thermoelectric power generators, which could produce renewable and sustainable energy in vehicle exhaust manifolds, furnace exhausts, and building windows.
In addition, other unexpected applica-tions will probably emerge that require new combinations of material properties.
Past growth in research expected to continue
Statistics on published scientific articles and patents indicate that glass–ceramic research has grown exponential-ly during the past 60 years, with no signs of slowing down. The above analysis pro-vides an overall picture in terms of num-bers as well as traditional and new areas of applications for the advancement of glass-ceramics. Commercially successful products include those intended for domestic and high-tech applications—such as cookware, chemically or mechan-ically machinable materials, telescope mirrors, hard-disk substrates, cooktop plates, artificial bones, and dental pros-theses—but the breadth of uses proposed in patents is much wider. Analyses of patent applications of glass–ceramics versus number of granted patents in the past decade reveal significant growth in dental, biomedical, waste management, and optical applications.
We hope this report serves as a motivation and guide for students, pro-fessors, technologists, and researchers when thinking of future research direc-tions and, most importantly, encourages researchers to dig deeper to find new glass–ceramic compositions, nucleating agents, and heat treatments that lead to novel structures and properties. Such considerations may result in materials with uniquely organized nanostructures or microstructures or with useful combi-nations of properties that are well suited for new applications.
AcknowledgmentsThe authors dedicate this article to
S.D. Stookey—although he passed away on November 4, 2014, his important dis-coveries and legacy will remain forever.
The authors thank the São Paulo Research Foundation for financial sup-port of this research project, and they also acknowledge Brazil’s National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and The World Academy of Sciences for Ph.D. fellowships granted to Maziar Montazerian. The authors also appreciate the critical comments of Mark Davis, George Beall, and Atiar Rahaman Molla. Edgar Dutra Zanotto is indebted to the knowledgeable members of the Crystallization and Glass–Ceramics Committee of the International Commission on Glass for enlightening discussions during the past 30 years.
About the authorsAll authors are from the Department
of Materials Engineering at the Center for Research, Technology, and Education in Vitreous Materials at Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil.
References1P.W. McMillan, Glass–ceramics. Academic Press, New York, 1979.2J.F. MacDowell, “Glass–ceramic bodies and methods of making them,” U.S. Pat. No. 3 201 266, 1965.3V. Marghussian, Nano-glass ceramics: Processing, properties, and applications, 1st Ed. Elsevier, New York, 2015.
4R.-A.M. Réaumur, “The art of matching a new grid of porcelain,” Memories Acad. Sci., Paris, 377–88 (1739).5W. Höland and G. Beall, Glass–ceramic technology, 2nd Ed. American Ceramic Society, Westerville, Ohio, and Wiley, New York, 2012.6S.D. Stookey, “Photosensitively opacifiable glass,” U.S. Pat. No. 2 684 911, 1954.7S.D. Stookey, “Chemical machining of photosensitive glass,” Ind. Eng. Chem., 45, 115–18 (1953).8S.D. Stookey, “Catalyzed crystallization of glasses in theo-ry and practice,” Ind. Eng. Chem., 51 [7] 805–808 (1959).9A.Sakamoto and S. Yamamoto, “Glass–ceramics: Engineering principles and applications,” Int. J. Appl. Glass Sci., 1 [3] 237–47 (2010).10G.H. Beall, “Milestones in glass–ceramics: A personal perspective,” Int. J. Appl. Glass Sci., 5 [2] 93–103 (2014).11W. Pannhorst, “Recent developments for commercial applications of low expansion glass–ceramics,” Glass Technol.-Eur. J. Glass Sci. Technol. Part A, 45 [2] 51–53 (2004).12R.D. Rawlings, J.P. Wu, and A.R. Boccaccini, “Glass–ceramics: Their production from wastes—A review,” J. Mater. Sci., 41 [3] 733–61 (2006).13L.L. Hench, “Glass and glass–ceramic technologies to trans-form the world,” Int. J. Appl. Glass Sci., 2 [3] 162–76 (2011).14M.J. Davis, “Practical aspects and implications of inter-faces in glass–ceramics: A review,” Int. J. Mater. Res., 99 [1] 120–28 (2008).15E.D. Zanotto, “Glass crystallization research—A 36-year retrospective. Part II, Methods of study and glass–ceram-ics,” Int. J. Appl. Glass Sci., 4 [2] 117–24 (2013).16J.C. Mauro and E.D. Zanotto, “Two centuries of glass research: Historical trends, current status, and grand challenges for the future,” Int. J. Appl. Glass Sci., DOI: 10.1111/ijag.12087 (2014).17E.D. Zanotto, “A bright future for glass–ceramics,” Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull., 89 [8] 19–27 (2010).18W.W. Shaver and S.D. Stookey, “Pyroceram,” SAE Technical Papers, 90428, 1959.19G.W. McLellan, “New applications of glass and glass–ceramics in the automotive industry,” SAE Technical Papers, 91753, 1959. n
Realizing the potential of glass–ceramics in industry by John c. Mauro, corning incorporated
The accidental discovery of glass–ceramics by S. Donald Stookey in 1953 revolutionized the glass industry by enabling new properties, such as ex-ceptionally high fracture toughness and low thermal expansion coefficient compared with traditional glasses. Although glassy materials are noncrystalline by definition, glass–ceramics are based on controlled nucleation and growth of crystallites within a glassy matrix. Concentration, size, and chemistry of the crystallites can be controlled through careful design of the base glass chemistry and the heat-treatment cycle used for nucleation and crystal growth. These composition and process parameters give new dimensions for optimizing the properties of industrial glass–ceramics.
Table 1 provides an excellent summary of com-mercialized glass–ceramic products. The success of these products is based on achieving unique com-binations of attributes, including appropriate optical, thermal, mechanical, and biological properties, often which cannot be achieved by an “ordinary” non-crystalline glass. For many of these products, such as MACOR and dental glass–ceramics, forming and
machining behavior of the glass–ceramic materials are also of critical concern.
Successful design of next-generation indus-trial glass–ceramic products should be aided by a renewed focus on the fundamental physics and chemistry governing these high-tech materials. Although the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of crystallization are of the utmost importance for designing industrial materials, there remains insufficient theoretical understanding of these basic processes in glass–ceramics. Future development of new theoretically rigorous modeling capabilities will hopefully enable quantitatively accurate predictions of glass–ceramic microstructures and properties.
A detailed understanding of glass–ceramic materials is an exceptionally challenging problem, especially for many-component oxide systems that are the basis for most industrial glass–ceramic products. However, this presents a unique opportunity to build a solid foundation for realizing the many exciting fu-ture applications of glass–ceramics described in the accompanying article and to train the next generation of industrial glass–ceramic scientists.
www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 436
by April Gocha
Corning Museum of Glass curator Marvin Bolt discusses
how studying early telescopes provides a glimpse into the
evolution of science, birth of glass science, and world history.
What do you see when you look at a telescope?
A tool that helped birth the field of science? The first device to extend human senses? An instrument that changed the course of human history? An object intimately linked to musings about our place in the universe?
Marvin Bolt, the first-ever Curator of Science and Technology of the Corning Museum of Glass, sees all of those things and much more.
Bolt is on a career-long quest to find, identify, and study the world’s oldest telescopes. The quest began with a slowly building lifelong interest in astronomy, planted as a childhood seed, and has grown exponentially through Bolt’s previous position at the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum (Chicago, Ill.).
Now at the Corning Museum of Glass (Corning, N.Y.), Bolt says the company is an integral part of his building career crescendo. “Part of being a historian, like I am, is working with the materiality of historical objects,” Bolt says in a recent telephone interview. And because glass experts now reside right outside his office doorstep, he can consult and collaborate with Corning Incorporated’s scien-tists and engineers to explore the material secrets of the glass within those early telescopes.
I recently had the opportunity to talk with Bolt more about the history and glass science behind telescopes. What follows is a snip-pet of our conversation.
Marvin Bolt peers through an early telescope, made around 1650,
from the Astronomisch-Physikalisches Kabinett in Kassel, Germany.
Peering into the past: What early telescopes reveal about glass technology and scientific evolution
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Quest for the oldest instrumentsFirst, let’s clarify a few misconceptions
about telescopes. Although most people probably
assume that telescopes primarily mag-nify distant objects, their main purpose is actually to collect light, making an image appear brighter and sharper, Bolt explains. Further, the first telescopes, which appeared in the early 1600s, were touted for terrestrial uses—for example, gaining intelligence on enemy move-ments, spying on neighbors, and track-ing marine vessels—instead of gazing at the heavens.
Those early telescopes often were com-missioned, built, and carried more as status symbols—representing the holder’s patronage of the arts, science, and cul-ture—than as scientific tools. But they did evolve into highly valued scientific instru-ments, ones that have helped birth the entire field of glass science. And the road in between is quite an interesting one.
Despite all that is known about early telescopes, identifying the world’s old-est telescope is not so straightforward. According to Bolt, extensive documenta-tion tells us that the best securely dated telescope is from 1617 and now resides in a decorative arts museum in Berlin, Germany. But there are many other examples of early telescopes, many without sufficient documentation and evidence to know precisely when they were made.
Dating telescopes is largely based on circumstantial evidence, including docu-mentation about the object and, infre-quently, signatures and dates inscribed on the telescope lens. But placing a finger on the precise date of origination is usually a challenging task. “It’s not unlike asking whether there is life on other planets. We only have an incred-ibly small sample size, so it’s hard to extrapolate,” Bolt says.
But the quest is not in vain. When Bolt and his colleagues began, they knew of 8–10 telescopes built pre-1650. So far, the team has identified 25–30, Bolt says, and that experience has provided a better idea of what to look for in other artifacts.
Bolt lists some of the known early tele-scopes: one in a private collection dated to about 1620; two at the Museo Galileo in Florence, Italy; one in London; anoth-
er in a decorative arts museum in Dresden, Germany; and anoth-er found in Delft, the Netherlands, at an archaeological site. And there are likely others still out there waiting to be discov-ered—at least Bolt hopes so.
But what demar-cates a really old telescope from a not-so-old one? Bolt says there are a few telltale clues. One is the size of the lens—early telescope lenses were quite small, only 0.75 in. to 1.5 in. in diameter, so a larger lens is from a later time. The earliest telescopes contained two lenses, one near the target and one near the eye, so another clue is the num-ber of lenses. More lenses, especially near the eye, indicate that the telescope almost certainly originated post-1650. And still another clue is the lens itself—early itera-
tions have one flat and one curved side, while later lenses are biconvex. “And then there’s good old-fashioned intuition,” Bolt says. “Once you see enough of them, you get a sense.”
But perhaps the biggest clue is the quality of the glass itself. Early lenses were fabricated at a time when the study of glass was not yet a science. Low-quality glass, marred with bubbles, streaks, and lines, interfered with the telescope’s abil-ity to collect light without distortion.
Although low-quality glass lenses were disadvantageous to the
observer peering through the telescope, they now are a welcome sign—at least to Bolt and his colleagues—because they indicate an early lens. “If it’s a bad lens, that’s good news,”
Bolt muses.When Bolt and his team
identify a sufficiently old tele-scope, they have a handful of nondestruc-
tive tests in their arsenal to investigate the instrument’s hidden glass secrets. To assess whether the lens is original, Bolt and his team perform basic focal length measure-ments as well as measure focal lengths as a function of wavelength. Ronchi tests also can help infer originality by measuring lens quality. In addition, the team is exploring wavefront sensor technologies to assess image fidelity and, therefore, lens quality. These tests measure absolute quality, Bolt says, but also comparative quality, which can be more informative by providing an optical evolution.
Wrapped in paper, and hidden deep inside a nondescript leather tube, this object lens from the 1620s—housed at Kunstgewerbmuseum in Pillnitz, Germany—confirms sugges-tions about the construction of the very first telescopes.
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The view through a telescope dated to 1645 (from a private collection in Switzerland) of a distant town hall across the German border.
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Peering into the past: What early telescopes reveal about glass technology...
With a better sense of what to look for, and with a toolkit of tests to provide data, Bolt and his team have identified a slew of old tele-scopes housed in various museums and collections around the world. Funding from the American Alliance of Museums, National Endowment for the Humanities, and National Science Foundation has made it possible for the team to study these historical artifacts, collecting information, photographs, and—sometimes, if they are lucky—physi-cally testing the telescopes themselves.
Bolt says he and his team are compiling this detailed information into an online database listing and depicting as many early telescopes as they can find. He hopes the database will help identify additional candidate early telescopes by providing oth-ers with examples for comparison.
“When we started the project, we estimated there might be 300 or 400 telescopes that are pre-1750,” Bolt says. “Right now we’ve identified more than 1,000, and we are pretty sure we’ve found another 200–250 or so. So there’s a lot out there.” The database, set to be complete later this year, will be housed on the Corning Museum of Glass web-site, cmog.org.
Glass’s evolution Although it is difficult to pinpoint
precisely when many of the early tele-scopes were made, a significant amount
of evidence indicates more about how they were made.
The first telescope lenses were made primarily from adapted, ground, and pol-ished Venetian plate glass. That was the highest-quality glass at the time, so crafts-men—logically—adapted it into lenses, Bolt says. Molds also were used to form early lenses from molten glass to obtain the rough shape, which was then ground and polished into a final form. And, Bolt speculates, there is also a third source for early telescopes lenses—adapted spectacle lenses, which were invented in the late 1200s. Although that research is still in progress, Bolt says he has some prelimi-nary evidence that suggests some early telescope makers adapted spectacle lenses in their instruments.
In addition to varied sources of lenses, early glass itself had a lot of variability. Bolt says there is one known glass recipe, which dates to the early 1600s, that is linked to the first telescope lenses. The recipe calls for 1,000 parts sand, 350–380 parts soda ash, and 180–230 parts lime-stone. In addition to the recipe’s built-in variability, inconsistent raw material qual-ity, impurities, and daily fluctuations also contributed to wide batch-to-batch vari-ability in early glass compositions.
A development in the late 1600s ushered a big improvement in glass qual-ity—leaded glass. That improvement, the brainchild of English glassmaker George Ravenscroft, made glass more refractive
with the addition of lead. Although the effect of this development was not immediate, this single glass improvement was key to the evolution of the telescope.
One of the reasons that Bolt’s team is cataloging only pre-1750 telescopes is that after that time, the number of telescopes drastically increased. Around 1750, the addition of leaded glass to tele-scope lenses improved their quality such that they began to be mass-produced. Those telescopes contained an achro-matic objective lens, composed of a combination of a leaded glass lens with a standard soda–lime glass lens.
The effects were revolutionary and far-reaching. Beyond the telescope, a similar instrument, the microscope, struggled to incorporate this new glass technol-ogy. Because the microscope provided such a challenge, a trio of rather famous German scientists—Ernst Abbe, Carl Zeiss, and Otto Schott—reasoned that if the lenses could not be sufficiently improved, they would have to improve the glass itself. Their collaboration bore the apochromatic lens (which better cor-rects spherical aberration by bringing three wavelengths into focus in the same plane). According to Bolt, this point really demarcates the full-blown birth of glass science—and it was directly spurred by the telescope.
However, the road between telescope history and glass science was not one-way. In addition to telescope advance-ments yielding glass science, glass sci-ence also independently advanced the telescope. The invention of borosilicate glass, specifically Corning’s Pyrex, led to casting of the 200-in. disk, an important milestone in telescope history. And later, the independent development of fused silica revolutionized modern telescopes. Glass science and telescope development are intimately intertwined in a symbiotic relationship. “So it iterates … better telescopes yield better glass, which yields better telescopes, which yields better glass …,” Bolt says.
Despite leaded glass’s revolutionary effect on telescopes, however, it also brought new problems to glass science. Lead tends to sink out of glass during formation, so glassmakers puzzled over how to keep the mixture homogeneous.
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Sometimes, looking for clues in a museum means that Bolt has to get as close as possible. Here he examines an artifact at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany.
39American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
The breakthrough—beginning in the 1770s, greatly improved by 1795, and perfected a decade late—came when Swiss glassmaker Pierre Louis Guinand discovered that stirring molten leaded glass with a simple clay stirrer could maintain a homogeneous mixture, with the added benefit of purging bubbles from the glass at the same time.
Guinand shared the knowledge with his collaborator, Joseph von Fraunhofer, in 1807, signifying a critical moment in telescope and glass history. With the improved glass composition and quality, Fraunhofer went on to discover spectral lines and used them as markers to test the properties of glass. This allowed him to calibrate lenses, a task that allowed glass science, and telescopes in particu-lar, to blossom.
Although glass lenses kept improving, there was a limit to progress. Better glass allowed bigger lenses, which can collect more light, but those large lenses reached an upper limit at about 1 m in diameter. Lenses larger than that need to be increas-ingly thick to avoid distortions as the telescope (and lens) is aimed in different directions, and that thickness causes light to be absorbed—removing the benefits of the increase in size. So new technologies were needed to continue the upward trend of the telescope.
Bolt says this conundrum led to an important shift in telescope technology—telescopes that use glass to transmit light (through a lens) versus telescopes that use glass as a substrate to reflect light (by a mirror). This minor distinction made for big changes in the course of the telescope.
Similar to previous glass improve-ments, important advances in mirror quality allowed mirrors to infiltrate tele-scopes, collecting more light and visual-izing more distant objects with greater quality. According to Bolt, from that moment on, glass in telescopes was used as a substrate for reflection.
But mirrors alone did not get telescopes to where they are today. “Probably the most important advance for telescopes today is fused silica—it was a whole new way to make glass with unprecedented purity. With titanium added to it, this glass features nearly perfect thermal stability,” Bolt explains.
And one specific glass technology has propelled the telescope to today’s impres-sive abilities—the aspherical lens.
Early lenses relied on grinding and polishing—essentially rubbing two pieces of glass together—to achieve a spherical lens. But even today’s most precise spheri-cal lenses are not perfect, because even they produce distortions through spheri-cal aberration. One way to overcome this limitation is an aspherical lens, but tech-nology could not produce these complex components until the development of 20th century technologies. Now, computer driven grinding machines can control shape with adequate precision and accu-racy to fabricate aspherical lenses.
Lasting impactIn addition to what the telescope
itself has done for science and beyond, the instrument also has spurred develop-ment of four other 17th century instru-ments that crucially depend on glass—the microscope, thermometer, barometer, and air pump. Together with the devel-opment of an accurate timekeeper, these five instruments are responsible for the rise of modern science, with lasting impacts in nearly every discipline.
Further, Fraunhofer’s discovery of spectral lines birthed spectroscopy, a field that has allowed humans to deter-mine that the chemistry on Earth holds true beyond this planet—in other words, there is one set of laws throughout the universe. This realization has trans-formed how we think about our place
in the universe and has inspired explora-tion beyond our pale blue dot.
“The telescope has changed human history because science has changed the world,” Bolt says. “But the telescope also shows that the moon is a real place, with mountains and craters. Mars is a real place. This really led to conversations about the possibility of extraterrestrial life on other planets, transforming how we think about our place in the universe.
And those thoughts have influ-enced human history, thought, iden-tity, and culture.
“Now we have a rover on Mars—essen-tially an extension of the telescope—that brings the planet to life. Thanks to the rover’s images, you can imagine yourself on the dusty surface of Mars—it com-pletely transforms how we think about the entire solar system. We wouldn’t have Bruce Willis blowing up asteroids without the impact of the telescope.” n
Corning Museum of GlassFrom children looking for an adventure to artists in search of inspiration, there is some-thing for everyone at the Corning Museum of Glass, located in Finger Lakes Wine Country of Upstate N.Y. The world’s largest glass mu-seum offers the opportunity to browse 3,500 years of glassmaking history in the collection galleries. The new daylit Contemporary Art + Design wing houses the best of the last 25 years in glass, and a 500-seat amphitheater hot shop provides space dedicated to live glass demonstrations and design sessions. Visit www.cmog.org for more information.
Examining the view through the oldest telescope outside of Europe (circa 1630) at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Ill.
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Nonlinear elasticity of silica fibers studied by in-situ Brillouin light scattering in two-point bend test
By Michael Guerette and Liping Huang
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In-situ Brillouin light-scattering shows that an expression including the fifth-order term
is required to capture both minimum in compres-sion and maximum in tension in the elastic modu-lus of silica glass.
Silica glass exhibits strong nonlinear elastic behavior, mean-ing that the force–displacement relationship is nonlinear and Hooke’s Law does not apply. In other words, high-order terms are needed to properly describe the elastic behavior of silica glass under high strains:
σ ε( ) =Yoε +Y12ε 2 +
Y26ε3 + ...,
(1)
where σ and ε are stress and strain, and Y0 the conventional
(zero strain) modulus (also called the second-order modulus because it is the second-order coefficient in the strain–energy relationship). Y
1 and Y
2 are the third- and fourth-order moduli,
and they are followed by higher-order terms. Strain depen-dence of Young’s modulus can be obtained from Eq. (1):
Y ε( ) =Yo +Y1ε +Y22ε 2 + ...,
(2)
Young’s modulus values of silica glass in uniaxial tension up to 12% strain were reported by Mallinder and Proctor1 at liquid-nitrogen temperature. Krause et al.,2 conducted a uni-axial tension study at ambient temperature and measured the Young’s modulus of silica glass up to strains of 6%. Gupta and Kurkjian3 fitted a second-order polynomial (requiring Young’s modulus terms up to the fourth order in Eq. (2)) to Krause’s data and extrapolated to higher strains.
High strains under uniaxial tension are hard to achieve because of difficulty gripping fibers. Therefore, the two-point bend (TPB) test is used to measure fiber failure strain without gripping or damaging the fiber surface.4 If we assume linear elasticity, strains in TPB tests are calculated as
ε =1.198 2rD− d (3)
where r is distance from the fiber neutral axis, D the faceplate separation at fracture, and d the fiber diameter (see the sche-matic in Figure 1). Because of large intrinsic failure strains (as
Figure 1. (Left) Schematic of in-situ Brillouin light-scattering measurement in a TPB test. A laser beam focused down to
~1 µm travels from the tensile to the compressive side. Strain-dependent elastic modulus at each point can be measured. (Right) Schematic of a two-point bender with a nitrogen chamber surrounding a bent fiber.
41American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
high as 18% for silica tested in liquid-nitrogen environment5), knowledge of the strain-dependent elastic modulus is required to calculate fiber strength from measured failure strain.1,2,6 At present, zero strain modulus is used for most glass fibers because of the lack of elastic-ity data under high strains. On the other hand, nonlinear elastic behavior of silica glass is expected to shift the neutral axis of a bent silica fiber to the tensile side so that more material can deform in compression.7–9 Usually nominal strains are calculated from Eq. (3) by assuming the neutral axis stays at the geometrical center of a bent fiber. Therefore, mea-suring elastic moduli at high strains and the accompanying neutral axis shift (if any) are necessary to determine failure strain and failure strength. In this study, we used in-situ Brillouin light scattering (BLS) in TPB to measure elastic modu-lus of silica fibers under tensile and com-pressive strains and to locate the neutral axis of a bent silica fiber as the point at which elastic modulus matches that of a straight fiber without strain.
The experimentWater content facilitates crack growth,
although the mechanisms remain debat-ed.10–12 To increase maximum strain, we tested the fiber in a dry-nitrogen atmo-sphere (see right schematic in Figure 1). We built a small chamber to fit around the bent fiber and flowed standard-grade
nitrogen with ≤3 ppm water content by volume through the chamber. This allowed us to maintain strain values in bent silica fiber up to 6% for long dura-tions. When the experiment was fin-ished and gas flow terminated, the fiber snapped immediately.
To obtain reduced optical distortion by refraction at the fiber surface, we drew fibers with flat faces and square corners (cross section of 210 μm 3 160 μm) (Figure 2). The 210-μm face of the square fiber contacted the faceplates, resulting in strain profile across the 160-μm side of the fiber at the apex. At the apex of a bent fiber, we assumed each plane at a specific distance from the neutral axis to be at the same strain level. We conduct-ed backscattering experiments normal to the surface (BS) and at an angle to the surface (α-BS) so that the scattering wave vector had a component along the strain axis (Figure 3). By isolating the frequency shift into its directional components (q
x,
qz) when scattering at an external angle
(α), we determined sound velocity and resulting moduli in the strain direction.
Results and discussionWe increased the magnitude of the
phonon wave vector component in the strain direction by scattering at a greater angle to the face normal of a bent fiber, resulting in increased difference of the frequency shift from scattering normal to the surface (perpendicular to strain axis).
Longitudinal Brillouin shift is shown in Figure 4(a), with phonons traveling anti-parallel to the incident beam for external angle α = 20°, 25°, and 30°. There is a minimum in the frequency shift in the compressive region. These behaviors are reminiscent of the well-known elastic soft-ening of silica glass on initial hydrostatic compression and elastic modulus mini-mum around 2–3 GPa.13
We determined that the neutral axis was the position along the apex where the Brillouin frequency shift in the BS and the α-BS geometries are equal and the same as that of an unstrained fiber (Figure 4(a)). We observed the neutral axis shift of 0.006 ± 0.002 mm in bent silica fibers under ±5.7% nominal strains, as shown in Figure 4(a). Our measured neutral axis shift value yields compressive strain ε
C =
–6.2% and tensile strain εT = 5.3% from
Figure 2. Optical image of a fractured silica fiber with square corners and flat faces, after polymer coating removal with hot concentrated H2SO4.
Figure 3. (a) Normal (BS) and (b) angular-dependent (α-BS) backscattering geometry used to determine the longitudinal and shear modulus perpendicular and along the strain axis.
(a) (b)
Z
x
Z
x
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www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 442
Nonlinear elasticity of silica fibers studied by in-situ Brillouin light scattering . . .
Eq. (3), different from nominal strains by more than 7%.
For isotropic materials, shear wave has no polarization component in the propagation direction and does not scat-ter light in the backscattering geometry.14 With enough anisotropy generated in a bent fiber, there can be a polarization component in backscattering direction for the shear wave to be detected in highly strained regions (Figure 4(b)).
Figure 4(b) also shows that the transverse Brillouin shift is independent of scat-tering angle, because propagation veloc-ity of the transverse wave we detected depends only on anisotropy-induced polarization in the strain direction. This explains why the shear peak was not observed in regions of low strain nor in normal BS geometry.
We used sound propagation veloci-ties measured by BLS to determine the
longitudinal modulus along (C33
) and perpendicular to the strain axis (C
11) and
the shear modulus along the high strain direction (C
44), as shown in Figure 5.
We observed a strong nonlinear elastic behavior in C
33 and C
44. Within the
strain range tested, we observed a mini-mum in C
44 at about —5.5% compressive
strain. We expected a minimum in C33
to occur at a higher compressive strain. We take an average of the results from
Figure 4. (a) Longitudinal Brillouin shifts perpendicular to the strain axis (symbols in red) and at several angles to the strain axis. Neutral axis shifts from the geometric center, yielding greater area in compressive than in tensile deformation. (b) Transverse Brillouin shift seen in regions with enough anisotropy to support shear waves.
Strain (%)
Long
itudi
nal f
requ
ency
shi
ft (G
Hz)
(a) (b)
Strain (%)Tr
ansv
erse
freq
uenc
y sh
ift (G
Hz)
Strain (%)
Long
itudi
nal m
odul
us (G
Pa)
(a) (b)
Strain (%)
Shea
r m
odul
us (G
Pa)
Figure 5. (a) Longitudinal modulus perpendicular to the strain axis (C11) and along the strain axis (C33). (b) Shear modulus (C44) along the high-strain direction as a function of strain.
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43American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
three measurements at various scattering angles to mitigate errors in strain-depen-dent elastic moduli. Average C
33 and
C44
results are used to estimate Young’s modulus along the strain direction as if at each point the material were locally isotropic, according to
Y =C44 (3⋅C33 −4 ⋅C44 )C33 −C44 (4)
Figure 6 shows results from the above isotropic approximation, compared with Gupta and Kurkjian’s fit to Krause’s uniaxial tensile results up to 6% strain.2,3 A third-order polynomial in Eq. (2) is needed to account for the elastic modulus minimum in the compressive region and to properly describe the strain-dependent Young’s modulus. In the terminology set forth, this requires a fifth-order modulus term to describe the nonlinear elastic behavior of silica glass under high strains.
ConclusionWe have developed an in-situ
Brillouin light-scattering technique with a spatial resolution of ~1 μm to measure elastic moduli of glass fibers under ten-sile and compressive strains in a single TPB experiment. We observed in our measurements, for the first time, neutral axis shift in a bent silica fiber that result-ed from the nonlinear elastic behavior of silica glass. Neutral axis shift should be considered when calculating strains of bent fibers. An expression for elastic modulus that includes the fifth-order term is required to capture the mini-mum in compression and the maximum in tension for silica glass.
AcknowledgmentsThis work was supported by NSF
Grant No. DMR-0907076 and DMR-1255378. Square silica fibers were drawn by Sergey Semjonov at the Fiber Optics Research Center, Moscow, Russia. The authors thank Chuck Kurkjian, Minoru Tomozawa, and Prabhat Gupta for stim-ulating discussions.
About the authorsMichael Guerette earned his Ph.D.
in materials science and engineering in
December 2014 with advisor Liping Huang at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y. Contact Guerette at [email protected].
Editor’s noteGuerette will present the 2015
Kreidl Award Lecture at the Glass and Optical Materials Division Annual Meeting in Miami, Fla., on May 19, 2015. Huang presented the Kreidl Award Lecture in 2003.
References1F.P. Mallinder and B.A. Proctor, “Elastic constants of fused silica as a function of large tensile strain,” Phys. Chem. Glasses, 5 [4] 91–103 (1964).2J. Krause, L. Testardi, and R. Thurston, “Deviations from linearity in the dependence of elongation upon force for fibers of simple glass formers and of glass optical lightguides,” Phys. Chem. Glasses, 20 [6] 135–39 (1979).3P.K. Gupta and C.R. Kurkjian, “Intrinsic failure and non-linear elastic behavior of glasses,” J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 351 [27–29] 2324–28 (2005).4P. France, M. Paradine, M. Reeve, and G. Newns, “Liquid-nitrogen strengths of coated optical-glass fibers,” J. Mater. Sci., 15 [4] 825–30 (1980).5N.P. Lower, R.K. Brow, and C.R. Kurkjian, “Inert failure strain studies of sodium sili-cate glass fibers,” J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 349, 168–72 (2004).6W.B. Hillig, “The factors affecting the ultimate strength of bulk fused silica”; pp.
25–29 in Symposium on the Mechanical. Strength of Glass and Ways to Improve It (Florence, Italy, 1962).7E. Suhir, “Elastic stability, free vibrations, and bending of optical glass fibers: Effect of the nonlinear stress–strain relationship,” Appl. Opt., 31 [24] 5080–85 (1992).8E. Suhir, “The effect of the nonlinear stress–strain relationship on the mechanical behav-ior of optical glass fibers,” Int. J. Solids Struct., 30 [7] 947–61 (1993).9M. Muraoka, “The maximum stress in opti-cal glass fibers under two-point bending,” J. Electron. Packag., 123 [1] 70–73 (2000).10S.W. Freiman, S.M. Wiederhorn, and J.J. Mecholsky Jr., “Environmentally enhanced fracture of glass: A historical perspective,” J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 92 [7] 1371–82 (2009).11S.M. Wiederhorn, “Influence of water vapor on crack propagation in soda-lime glass,” J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 50 [8] 407–14 (1967).12S.M. Wiederhorn, T. Fett, G. Rizzi, S. Fünfschilling, M.J. Hoffmann, and J.-P. Guin, “Effect of water penetration on the strength and toughness of silica glass,” J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 94, s196–s203 (2011).13K. Kondo, S. Iio, and A. Sawaoka, “Nonlinear pressure dependence of the elas-tic moduli of fused quartz up to 3 GPa,” J. Appl. Phys., 52 [4] 2826–31 (1981).14J. Sandercock, “Trends in Brillouin scatter-ing: Studies of opaque materials, supported films, and central modes,” Top. Appl. Phys., 51, 173–206 (1982).■
Youn
g's
mod
ulus
(GPa
)Strain (%)
Figure 6. Young’s modulus as a function of strain from this work and Gupta and Kurkjian’s fit to Krause’s data.2,3 Solid lines indicate the strain ranges over which experimental data are available.
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44 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4
2015ACerS GOMD–DGG JOint MeetinGmay 17 – 21 | Hilton Miami Downtown
ceramics.org/gomd-dgg
Join the Glass & Optical Materials Division and the Deutsche Glastechnische Gesellschaft in Miami for the GOMD-DGG 2015 Joint Meeting. The program covers physical properties and technological processes important to glasses, amorphous solids, and optical materials. Sessions headed by technical leaders from industry, labs, and academia will discuss the latest advances in glass science and technology as well as examine the amorphous state. Make your plans for GOMD-DGG 2015 today!
Conference Sponsors
A A NM E R I CE T SL EME N
Stookey Lecture of DiscoveryMonday, May 18, 2015 | 8 – 9 a.m.N. B. Singh, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA
Title: Development of multifunctional chalcogenide and chalcopyrite crystals and glasses
George W. Morey LectureTuesday, May 19, 2015 | 8 – 9 a.m.Jianrong Qiu, South China University of Technology, China
Title: Control of the metastable state of glasses
Norbert J. Kreidl LectureTuesday, May 19, 2015 | Noon – 1:20 p.m.Michael J. Guerette, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA
Title: Structure of nonlinear elasticity of silica glass fiber under high strains
Varshneya Frontiers of Glass Science LectureWednesday, May 20, 2015 | 8 – 9 a.m.Sabyasachi Sen, University of California, Davis, USA
Title: Structural aspects of relaxational dynamics in glasses and supercooled liquids
Varshneya Frontiers of Glass Technology LectureThursday, May 21, 2015 | 8 – 9 a.m.Steven B. Jung, Mo-Sci Corporation, USA
Title: The present and future of glass in medicine
Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel1601 Biscayne Boulevard | Miami, FL 33132 | 305-374-0000
Rate: $164 – Single/Double If you need assistance with travel planning or have questions about the destination, please contact Greg Phelps of ACerS at [email protected].
45American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
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*Short course: Nucleation, growth, and crystallization in glasses May 16 – 17, 2015 | 1 – 5 p.m.; 8 a.m. – Noon | Hilton Miami DowntownInstructor: Edgar Zanotto, Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil
Glass and glass–ceramic researchers and manufacturers must avoid or control crystallization in glass. Zanotto—a leading expert in the field—will teach a short course on the intricate nucleation and growth processes that control crystallization in glasses and how they impact novel glass production and glass–ceramic innovations. Scheduled the weekend before the conference, the short course leads directly into the GOMD–DGG 2015 meeting.
*Workshop: What’s new in ancient glass research May 17, 2015 | 8:30 a.m. – 5:20 p.m. | Hyatt Regency MiamiOrganizers: Glenn Gates, The Walters Art Museum; Pamela Vandiver, University of Arizona
Explore glass’s past and present at this one-day workshop sponsored by ACerS Art, Archaeology and Conservation Science Division, immediately following the American Insti-tute for Conservation meeting. Attendees will learn about ancient glass compositions, conservation, technologies, and manufacturing techniques, including reconstructing knowl-edge of production events, reverse engineering ancient technologies, and the behavioral knowledge of production, consumption, and distribution that they encompass.
*Separate registration fee required
Award Sponsors
Steve W. Martin Iowa State University, USA
Program chairs:
Reinhard Conradt RWTH Aachen
University, Germany [email protected]
Schedule Sunday, May 17, 2015Welcome reception 6 – 8 p.m.
Monday, May 18, 2015Stookey Lecture of Discovery 8 – 9 a.m.Concurrent sessions 9:20 a.m. – 5:40 p.m.Lunch provided Noon – 1:20 p.m.GOMD general business meeting 5:45 – 6:30 p.m.Poster session and 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. student competition
Tuesday, May 19, 2015Morey Award Lecture 8 – 9 a.m.Concurrent sessions 9:20 a.m. – 6 p.m.Kreidl Award Lecture Noon – 1:20 p.m. Lunch on own Noon – 1:20 p.m.Conference banquet 7 – 10 p.m.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015Varshneya Glass Science Lecture 8 – 9 a.m.Concurrent sessions 9:20 a.m. – 6 p.m.Lunch on own Noon – 1:20 p.m.Panel discussion for students: Noon - 1:20 p.m. Advice from the experts on publishing scientific research
Thursday, May 21, 2015Varshneya Glass Technology Lecture 8 – 9 a.m.Concurrent sessions 9:20 a.m. – Noon
Gang Chen Ohio University, USA
Division chairSteven A. Feller Coe College, USA
Chair-elect Randall Youngman
Corning Incorporated, USA
Vice chairEdgar Zanotto
Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil
SecretaryPierre Lucas
University of Arizona, USA
46 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4
June 14-19, 2015Hyatt Regency Vancouver, BC Canada
11th International Conference on Ceramic Materials and Components for Energy and Environmental Applications
ceramics.org/11cmcee
Ceramic technologies for sustainable development
Dan Arvizu Director and chief executive, National Renewable Energy Laboratory; president, Alliance for Sustainable Energy LLCTitle: Maximizing the potential of renewable energy
Arthur “Chip” Bottone President and CEO, FuelCell Energy Inc.; managing director, FuelCell Energy Solutions GmbHTitle: High-temperature fuel cells delivering clean, affordable power today
Sanjay M. Correa Vice president, CMC Program, GE Aviation Title: CMC applications in turbine engines: Science at scale
Richard Metzler Managing director, Rauschert GmbH Title: Energy efficient manufacturing: What can be done in the technical ceramics industry and which technical ceramic products can help other industries
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SPonSorS
HyAtt rEgEnCy VAnCouVEr655 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6C 2R7 | 604-683-1234
Single/Double: CA$220
Triple: CA$255
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Student: CA$165
If you need assistance with travel planning or have ques-tions about the destination, contact Greg Phelps at [email protected].
47American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
Mrityunjay Singh Chair Ohio Aerospace Institute, USA
orgAnIzErS
Tatsuki Ohji Cochair AIST, Japan
Alexander Michaelis Cochair Fraunhofer IKTS, Germany
SCHEdulESunday, June 14, 2015Registration 4 – 7 p.m.Welcome reception 5 – 7 p.m.
Monday, June 15, 2015Registration 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.Plenary session 8:30 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.Lunch 12:10 – 1:30 p.m.Concurrent sessions 1:30 – 6 p.m.Student and young professional networking 6 – 9 p.m. mixer (brought to you by Saint-Gobain)
tuesday, June 16, 2015Registration 8 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.Concurrent sessions 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.Lunch on own Noon – 1:30 p.m.Poster session 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015Registration 8 a.m. – NoonConcurrent sessions 8:30 a.m. – NoonFree afternoon and evening
thursday, June 18, 2015Registration 8 a.m. – NoonConcurrent sessions 8:30 a.m. – 5:20 p.m.Lunch on own Noon – 1:30 p.m.Conference dinner 7 – 9:30 p.m.
Friday, June 19, 2015Registration 8 a.m. – NoonConcurrent sessions 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
track 1: Ceramics for energy conversion, storage, and distribution systems High-temperature fuel cells and electrolysis Ceramics-related materials, devices, and processing for heat-to-electricity direct conversion aiming at green and sustainable human societies Photovoltaic materials, devices, and systems Materials science and technologies for advanced nuclear fission and fusion energy Functional nanomaterials for sustainable energy technologies Advanced multifunctional nanomaterials and systems for photovoltaic and photonic technologies Advanced batteries and supercapacitors for energy storage applications Materials for solar thermal energy conversion and storage High-temperature superconductors: Materials, technologies, and systems
track 2: Ceramics for energy conservation and efficiency Advanced ceramics and composites for gas-turbine engines Advanced ceramic coatings for power systems Energy-efficient advanced bearings and wear-resistant materials Materials for solid-state lighting Advanced refractory ceramic materials and technologies Advanced nitrides and related materials for energy applications Ceramics in conventional energy, oil, and gas exploration
track 3: Ceramics for environmental systems Photocatalysts for energy and environmental applications Advanced functional materials, devices, and systems for environmental conservation and pollution control
Geopolymers, inorganic polymer ceramics, and sustainable composites Porous and cellular ceramics for filter and membrane applications Advanced sensors for energy, environment, and health applications
track 4: Crosscutting materials technologies Computational design and modeling Additive manufacturing technologies Novel, green, and strategic processing and manufacturing technologies Powder processing technology for advanced ceramics Advanced materials, technologies, and devices for electro-optical and biomedical applications Multifunctional coatings for energy and environmental applications Materials for extreme environments: Ultra-high-temperature ceramics (UHTC) and nanolaminated ternary carbides and nitrides (MAX phases) Ceramic integration technologies for energy and environmental applications Environment-friendly and energy-efficient manufacturing routes for production root technology Bioinspired and hybrid materials Materials diagnostics and structural health monitoring of ceramic components and systems
Honorary Symposiums •Innovativeprocessingandmicrostructuraldesignofadvancedceramics— A symposium in honor of professor Dongliang Jiang •Materialsprocessingsciencewithlasersasenergysources— A symposium in honor of professor Juergen Heinrich
tECHnICAl ProgrAM Plenary session: Technological innovations and sustainable developmentChoose from 12 concurrent sessions across four tracks. Plan your week with the Itinerary Planner at ceramics.org/11cmcee.
www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 448
ceramics.org/cements2015register now!
AdvAnces in Cement-based MAteriAls 6th
July 20 – 22, 2015
Hotel InformatIon
ACerS has secured reduced conference rates at Bluemont Hotel and Holiday Inn at Campus. Review the options below to secure your hotel.
organIzersKyle riding program cochair, Kansas State University
matthew D’ambrosia program cochair, CTL Group
Cements Division leadershipChair: Jeff Chen, Lafarge Centre de Recherche
Chair-elect: tyler ley, Oklahoma State University
Secretary: aleksandra radlinska, Pennsylvania State University
Trustee: Joe Biernacki, Tennessee Technological University
aCBm leadership
Director: Jason Weiss
Don’t miss your opportunity to network and hear from engineers, scientists, industrial professionals, and students on their latest innovations and research in cement-based materials.
teCHnICal Program
Authors will present oral and poster presentations in: – Cement chemistry and nano/microstructure
– advances in material characterization techniques
– alternative cementitious materials
– Durability and lifecycle modeling
– advances in computational materials science and chemo/mechanical modeling of cement- based materials
– smart materials and sensors
– rheology and advances in sCC
Kansas State University | Manhattan, Kansas, USA
Bluemont Hotel 1212 Bluemont Ave, Manhattan, Kansas Phone: 785-473-7091
Rate: $100/night | Cutoff date: June 30, 2015
To reserve a room online, visit Reservations. Under Group Reservations, enter Group ID amer0715 and password ksu to secure the discounted rate.
Holiday Inn at Campus 1641 Anderson Ave, Manhattan, KansasPhone: 785-539-7531
Rate: $99.95/night | Cutoff date: June 20, 2015
To reserve a room online, visit Reservations. Remember to include the Group Rate Code aCa to secure the dis-counted rate.
49American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
(Credit for all photos: ACerS.)
1 Peter Quirmbach, Deutsches Institut fuer Feuerfest and Keramik, starts Wednesday's session.
2 Lively discussion followed each of the talks.
3 RCD chair Ben Markel (center) with two of the 2014 Alfred W. Allen Award winners, Victor Pandolfelli (left) and Eric Sako (right). Fellow recip-ients Mariana Braulio, Enno Zinngrebe, and Sieger van der Laan are not pictured.
4 Paul Ormond, Aluchem, and Patty Smith, Missouri S&T, and program cochair Mike Alexander, Riverside Refractories, announce the winner of the kickoff poker run. Allen Davis, Pryor Giggey Co.,
walked off with top honors and a $500 cash prize.
5 Orville Hunter (left) presents Victor Pandolfelli with the T.J. Planje St. Louis Refractories Award.
6 The current and former Planje recipients gather for a group photo. From left: Jim Hill, Michel Rigaud, Howard Johnson, Mark Stett, Charles Semler, Victor Pandolfelli, Dilip Jain, Richard Bradt, Louis Trostel, J.P. Willi, and Kent Weisenstein.
7 Gary Hallum, CCPI, and Johnathan Nguyen, Uni-Ref Inc., catch up during cocktail hour.
ACerS St. Louis Section/Refractory Ceramics Division’s 51st Annual Symposium March 24–26, 2015
2
7
Severe thunderstorms rolled into St. Louis, Mo., just as the ACerS St. Louis Section and the Refractory Ceramics
Division convened for their 51st Annual Sym-posium on Refractories. But hail, high winds, thunder, and lightning couldn’t rain on the parade of the 200-plus attendees.
Although this year’s symposium—“Refractories as Engineered Ceramics”—was free of the grand golden celebrations of last year’s event, it offered the same top-notch technical sessions and op-portunities for networking.
Wednesday’s technical sessions began with Pe-ter Quirmbach of Deutsches Institut fuer Feuer-fest and Keramik (DIFK) delivering a keynote address on forefront measuring techniques for characterizing engineered refractories.
Victor Pandolfelli, professor at Federal Univer-sity of São Carlos, Brazil, was presented with the T.J. Planje St. Louis Refractories Award. Pandolfelli dedicated his award lecture to former ACerS president, Fellow, and Distin-guished Life Member George MacZura, who passed away on March 13, as well as other previous Planje recipients, including Richard Bradt and Michel Riguad.
The joint tabletop exposition and cocktail hour drew more than two dozen exhibitors. Marcus Fish, development director for the Ceramic
and Glass Industry Foundation, was the eve-ning banquet speaker.
Thursday’s sessions began with the presenta-tion of the 2014 Alfred W. Allen Award to Eric Sako, Mariana Braulio, and Pandolfelli, all of the Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil, and Enno Zinngrebe and Sieger van der Laan, both of the Ceramics Research Centre.
Talks on refractory castables—a hot topic this year—and advanced alumina alternatives were followed by a time of question-and-answer.
Although times are challenging, the people and the companies represented at this year’s symposium seem well-equipped to weather the storms, now and in a somewhat uncertain future. That being said, it is never a bad idea to carry an umbrella.
To view more photos from the meeting, visit bit.ly/1EILf62. n
1
4 5
6
3
50 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4
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51American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
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an optical microscope, converting it into a dynamic imaging station that will preview, acquire, store, measure, and communicate microscope images. Built on Android technology, the new line includes two tablet cameras, a 7-in. Moticam S2 and a 10-in. Moticam T2. Both come preloaded with proprietary application software that captures high-quality images and high-definition videos. This economical imaging solution allows users to measure and edit images with the touch of a finger. Both systems are equipped with Micro SD cards and are Bluetooth, wifi, and HDMI con-nection compatible. Motic (Xiamen, China) 877-977-4717 motic.com
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applications. The detectors have a fast pumping speed of 5 L/s, which shortens testing time, especially when checking for very small leaks, and improves sensitivity. The system includes a tablet-type wireless controller with a visually intuitive touch-screen interface. Easy access maintenance panels can be removed without tools, and the system’s internal configuration is designed for easy maintenance. The series includes five available models depending on application.Ulvac Technologies Inc. (Methuen, Ma.) 978-686-7550 ulvac.com
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ceramics.org
• Panel discussions, moderated “fi reside” chats, and talks
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WHERE BUSINESS AND MANUFACTURING MEET STRATEGY
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be used in conjunction with mixers for high-viscosity applications. The system consists of a platen that is lowered hydrau-lically into the mix vessel and allows direct product transfer from the mixer with automatically operating outlets and valves. Interfaced to a PLC-based control panel, the system features a cylinder-mounted linear transmitter for precise indication of platen position. The system is pro-grammed to maintain a desired pressure, enabling automatic and controlled transfer of the finished product straight into the filling line. The system accelerates product transfer, reduces contamination risk, and requires minimal manual cleaning.Charles Ross & Son Co. (Hauppauge, N.Y.) 800-243-7677 mixers.com
52 www.ceramics.org | American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4
Calendar of eventsMay 20154–6 Clay 2015: Structural Clay Products Division Meeting in conjunction with National Brick Research Center – Denver, Colo.; www.ceramics.org
11–14 Microstrucutral Characterization of Aerospace Materials and Coatings – Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, Calif.; www.asminternational.org/web/ims-2015/home
17 ACerS Art, Archaeology, and Conservation Science Division Workshop, “What’s New in Ancient Glass Research” – Hyatt Regency Miami, Miami, Fla.; www.ceramics.org
17–21 ACerS GOMD–DGG Joint Annual Meeting – Hyatt Regency Miami, Miami, Fla.; www.ceramics.org
19–21 Coating Process Fundamentals Short Course – University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.; http://cceevents.umn.edu/coating-process-fundamentals-short-course
23–26 ITSC 2015: Int’l Thermal Spray Conference and Exposition – Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, Calif.; www.asminternational.org/web/itsc-2015/home
24–29 Geopolymers: The route to eliminate waste and emissions in ceramic and cement manufacturing – Schloss Hernstein Seminarhotel, Hernstein, Austria; www.engconf.org/conferences/chemical-engineering/geopolymers/
June 201514–19 CMCEE: 11th Int’l Symposium on Ceramic Materials and Components for Energy and Environmental Applications – Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; www.ceramics.org
21–25 ECerS 2015: 14th Int’l Conference of the European Ceramic Society – Toledo, Spain; www.ecers2015.org
30–July 3 5th European PEFC & H2 Forum 2015 – Culture and Convention Centre, Lucerne, Switzerland; www.EFCF.com
July 2015
7–10 ICCCI2015: 5th Int’l High-Quality Advanced Materials Conference – Fujiyoshida City, Japan; http:// ceramics.ynu.ac.jp/iccci2015/index.html
20–22 Cements 2015: 6th Advances in Cement-based Materials – Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan.; www.ceramics.org
26–31 SOFC-XIV: 14th Int’l Symposium on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells – Glasgow, Scotland; www.electrochem.org/meet-ings/satellite/glasgow/
August 201523–26 COM 2015: 54th Annual Conference of Metallurgists – Toronto, Canada; www.metsoc.org
30–September 4 PACRIM 11: 11th Pacific Rim Conference on Ceramic and Glass Technology – JeJu Island, Korea; www.ceramics.org
September 201515–18 UNITECR 2015 – Hofburg Congress Center, Vienna, Austria; www.unitecr2015.org
20–23 Int’l Commission on Glass Annual Meeting – Centara Grand at CentralWorld, Bangkok, Thailand; www.icglass.org
19–25 The XIV Int’l Conference on the Physics of Non-Crystalline Solids – Niagara Falls, N.Y.; www.pncs-xiv.com
October 20154–8 MS&T15, combined with ACerS 117th Annual Meeting – Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio; www.matscitech.org
20–23 CERAMITEC 2015 – Messe Munich, Munich, Germany; www.ceramitec.de
November 20152–5 76th GPC: 76th Glass Problems Conference – Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio; www.glassproblemsconference.org
January 201620–22 EMA 2016: ACerS Electronic Materials and Applications – DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando Sea World, Orlando, Fla.; www.ceramics.org
24–29 ICACC16: 40th International Conference and Expo on Advanced Ceramics and Composites – Hilton Daytona Beach Resort/Ocean Walk Village, Daytona Beach, Fla.; www.ceramics.org
April 20167–11 ICG XXIV Int’l Congress – Shanghai, China; www.icglass.org
17–21 MCARE 2016: Materials Challenges in Alternative & Renewable Energy – Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort, Clearwater, Fla.; www.ceramics.org
26–28 2nd Ceramics Expo – Cleveland, Ohio; www.ceramicsexpousa.com
26–28 5th Ceramic Leadership Summit – Cleveland, Ohio; www.ceramics.org
May 2016
18–22 WBC2016: 10th World Biomaterials Congress – Montreal, Canada; www.wbc2016.org
resources
Dates in RED denote new entry in this issue.
Entries in BLUE denote ACerS events.
denotes meetings that ACerS cosponsors, endorses, or other- wise cooperates in organizing.
53American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 94, No. 4 | www.ceramics.org
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PROOFof your advertisement for insertion in the
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When students finish an engineering program, they often are asked the same question: “Industry or research?” I have asked and been asked this very question, because I am finishing my senior year in materials science and engineering at Pennsylvania State University. After graduation, students typically work in industry or a manufacturing plant, or they attend graduate school to continue research. Although there is an educa-tional gap in university-level engineering programs for further options, I have had exposure to a third alternative—commer-cial roles for material science engineers.
After my sophomore year at Penn State, I spent the next two summers interning with Corning Incorporated’s Environmental Technologies Division. The engineers I worked with were in charge of maintaining positive relations with raw material suppliers—all business between suppliers and the company involved these raw material engineers. The engineers ensured that raw materials supplied to Corning’s research and man-ufacturing divisions were of proper speci-fication according to the company’s pro-cessing requirements. If the plants had any raw materials issues, the engineers worked with suppliers to find a solution. If not for these internships, I would not know about this career option.
Another commercial role for engi-neers is consumer marketing and sales of a company’s product as market or product managers and sales engineers. The role of these positions has increased in the past few decades as products have become more technical and product dif-ferentiation more important for sales. Marketing and sales are the front lines in a company’s presentation to its cus-tomers, and, therefore, firms look for
confident individuals with a solid techni-cal background and excellent social skills to fill these positions. Knowledge about the details of material science products requires a background in disciplines such as ceramics, composites, metals, and polymers—precisely what material science students learn during college.
Sales engineers use their knowledge to model and design new products for a job that changes almost daily. Whether graduating engineers go directly into marketing and sales or into applications engineering, these types of roles provide the opportunity to work extensively with customers while also providing the advantages of travel and great variety in day-to-day responsibilities. Marketing or sales engineering typically provides good pay, incentives, commissions, and sales bonuses based on individual or company performance. Although the professional careers of my father, aunt, and uncle exposed me to this field, my university curriculum failed to discuss these career opportunities. Students often do not consider a position in sales because they do not know how much engineering and design goes into product marketing. However, it is a career opportunity that allows students to utilize a skillset differ-ent from traditional engineering roles.
Industry or research? Engineering alternative
commercial careers
deciphering the disciplinePeter Robinson
Guest columnist
Supplier management, product mar-keting, and sales engineering are just a few of the commercial career opportu-nities for engineers. Many commercial roles, which require extensive technical backgrounds, have expanded in recent years. Engineering curricula often do not explore these career options, however, limiting the potential of engineers who desire opportunities beyond traditional process, manufacturing, or research engineering roles. Engineering curricula should evolve to expose students to these additional career options, and, addition-ally, students should seek extracurricular opportunities to learn about these types of positions.
Peter Robinson is a senior studying
ceramics in the materials science and engineering program at Penn State. He is vice president of the Penn State chapter of Material Advantage, herald of the Penn State chapter of Keramos, and past committee chair of the President’s Council of Student Advisors. Peter would like to thank his father, aunt, and uncle for their guidance and encouragement throughout his education, which has opened doors that otherwise would not have been opened. n
An 8-year-old Peter Robinson sits on a flatbed truck while his father’s latest vacuum furnace sale is loaded for shipment.
Cre
dit:
Pet
er R
obin
son
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