Non-Stoichiometric Compounds: Surfaces, Grain Boundaries and Structural Defects

The material in this book is based on invited and contributed pa­ pers presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on INon-stoichio­ l metric Compounds held in Ringberg Castle, Rottach-Egern (Bavarian Alps), Germany, July 3-9, 1988. The workshop followed previous meetings held in Mogilany, Poland (1980), Alenya, France (1982), Penn State, USA (1984) and Keele University, UK (1986). The aim of these workshops is to present and discuss up-to-date knowledge in the study of non-stoichiometry and its effect on materials properties as well as to indicate the most urgent research pathways required in this field. Since the subject of non-stoichiometry is interdisciplinary, the workshops bring together solid state physicists and chemists, surface scientists, materials scientists, ceramists and metallurgists. The present workshop, which gathered 42 scientists of an inter­ national reputation, mainly considered the effect of surfaces, grain boundaries and structural defects on materials properties. From discus­ sions during this meeting it emerged that correct understanding of properties of ceramic materials requires urgent studies on the defect structure of the interface region. Progress in this direction requires the development of the interface defect chemistry. This is the task for materials scientists in the near future. The present proceedings includes both theoretical and experimen­ tal work on general aspects of non-stoichiometry, defect structure and diffusion in relation to the bulk and to the interface region of such materials as high tech ceramics, solid electrolytes, electronic cera­ mics, nuclear materials and high Tc oxide superconductors.