Progress in Ceramic Science, Volume 4 is a collection of papers reviewing the electrical and magnetic properties of ceramics, the fabrication techniques, and the effects of radiation on glasses. The book discusses the radiation effects in quartz, silica, and glasses focusing on the following: 1) the basic Si-O network; 2) impurities substitutional for silicon; and 3) alkali and hydrogen as the prime sources for ""non-bridging oxygen"". The text then explains the process of pressure sintering of ceramics to achieve pressure bonding, microstructural control, composite fabrication, and enhanced densification. One paper also discusses the theory on the relationship between the magnetic properties of non-metallic transition metal oxides and crystal chemistry.
The book evaluates the non-stoichiometric or flux, melt techniques that are used in growing high quality single crystals found in electronic devices. This topic includes the benefits of the techniques and an outline of the principles of flux growth. The electrical conduction mechanisms in oxides are then addressed, emphasizing the chemical approach through equations that are commonly found in chemistry. The book therefore addresses ionic conduction and mixed electrolytic and electronic conductors, and then reviews the fundamental equation that applies to all conduction processes.
The book can prove valuable for chemists, glass-ceramics materials engineers, ceramics technologists, and researchers in allied physics subjects.