Department of Materials Physics
Of the functions obtainable from various materials, there are so many cases where they depend on or are dominated by the surface conditions, including interfaces, grain boundaries. Various kinds of new phenomena occuring at the surface are being characterized and, as a result, new materials are being introduced through research work rendered on such surfaces. The research staff in the Department of Material Physics are now involved in the study of three basic aspects of the technology; design of surface/interface, process for creating new materials and material analysis/evaluation, with the aim of achieving still higher functions through the control and utilization of such surfaces and/or interfaces.
In the area of design technology, research is being deno to discover the appearances of new functions arising at the surfaces and/or interfaces and to make clear their mechanisms. And research work on analyses and predictions of the material properties are also being performed, based on a comparative study between the experimental values and the theoretically calculated values according to the electron theory of solid state etc.
As for the process technology field, research efforts are being directed to new process techniques relying on ion beams, etc., to create new materials controlled at the atomic and/or molecular level, along with advanced composite materials, and to modify the material surfaces. In addition, research work is also being done on the conventional types of processes like PVD, CVD, atmospheric or pressure sintering, with the aim of improving their efficiency.
In the area of material analysis/evaluation technology, research is being done on new analysis techniques, employing physical means such as ion beams, electron beams, X-ray, ultrasonic waves, etc. In addition, research work is also being carried out on evaluation techniques for various kinds of materials with characteristics depending on the surfaces/interfaces, such as composite materials.
Quantum Beam Section
E-mail address :
qbeam@onri.go.jp
.
In the Quantum Beam Section, the research on beam-solid interactions at the material surface is performed to characterize new phenomena induced by ion, electron and light beam at various energies. On the basis of the results in this regard, many efforts have been made on the development of new technologies for material processing and surface analysis: (1) thin film growth by
ion beam bombardment
and simultaneous metal evaporation, (2)surface modification such as buried layer formation by high energy ion implantation, and (3)development of high energy ion, microbeam for three-dimensional material processing and surface analysis such as microRBS and micro-PIXE.
Thin Film Engineering Section
E-mail address :
hakumaku@onri.go.jp
.
In the Thin Film Engineering Section, the research staff are researching on advanced thin film materials and
new film growing techniques
, among others. Fields of the research there also cover new film growth adopting precision control of process parameters, the epitaxy process and low-temperature film growth making use of the photo-excitation, and porous film growth techniques, etc. Making use of these techniques, research efforts are being made to develop ferroelectric thin films with electro-optic characteristics, optical multi-layered films such as zone plates for X-ray optical applications, and porous films that can be applied to display devices, along with research on viable film evaluation techniques.
Interfacial Science Section
E-mail address :
kaimen@onri.go.jp
.
Research carried out in the Interfacial Science Section aims at systematic understanding of the properties resulting from the surfaces and/or interface of inorganic particles. Typical examples of research themes are the enhancement of ionic conductivity observed on the
composite composed
of solid electrolyte and either ferroelectric or solid-super-acid particles, surface cubic phase covering ferroelectric BaTiO(3) particle, and the properties by the processing of Alpha-Fe(2)O(3) pigment. In order to elucidate these phenomena and the properties in relation to the crystal structures on the surface of particles, research is carried out on the material synthesis, processing and evaluation techniques.
Ceramic Materials Section
E-mail address :
ceramic@onri.go.jp
.
Researchers in the Ceramic Materials Section are committed to research on the material designing, production processes and evaluation technology for ceramics and cermic-based composite materials. In order to overcome the weak point of ceramics, "brittleness", efforts are being made to develop new ceramic composite materials, in particle-dispersion systems or the fiber-reinforced system, created by the polymer-precursor process or other new methods, in addition to those produced by the conventional sintering process. In addition, research is being conducted for improvement of ceramic materials and on new property evaluation techniques, with the aim of imparting adequate abrasion resistance and durability. Research is being pushed also to elucidate the structures of the grain boundaries and/or the interfaces in ceramics at the atomic and electronic level, through
theoretical computations
making use of a computer, along with computations for the prediction and designing of their properties.
Material Metrology Section
E-mail address :
metrol@onri.go.jp
.
In the Material Metrology Section, research effort has been made to the characterization and evaluation of material properties. Specifically in this section, researchers concentrate on the study of advanced composite materials and the physical structure of polymers. For these studies use is made of many techniques, such as falling impact testing and ultra-sonic spectroscopy. Furthermore as part of their effort to the development of international standards, researchers have established procedures to measure the wear and the relaxation processes in polymeric materials (known scientifically as creep) with high reproductivity. These results achieved by this section have contributed greatly to the establishment of standards for the ISO and JIS.
Ion implantation system.
Schematic diagram illustrating thin film growth
Conductivity enhancement of two orders of magnitude
Atomic structure model of (122) Sigma=9 particle in Beta-SiC.
Instrumented falling dart impact test system.
by M.Taniguchi, Osaka Natl. Res. Inst.
Quantum Beam Section
Thin Film Engineering Section
Interfacial Science Section
Ceramic Materials Section
Material Metrology Section