Preface to the viewpoint set: 'Metals and alloys with a structural scale from the micrometre to the atomic dimensions

摘要

Overall this collection of papers demonstrate the novelty of research and development covering metals and alloys with structural scales from the micrometre/sub-micrometre level to the atomic dimension. The top end of this scale covers many traditional metallic materials, where improvement in properties especially strength and toughness is obtained through a structural refinement by plastic deformation or phase transformation. An outstanding example is steel produced industrially with a submicrometre scale microstructure for high strength applications. At the lower end of the length scale metals and alloys synthesized by a variety of methods offer potential for materials with outstanding properties for niche applications. However, research covering the whole range of length scales show unique opportunities to extend classical material science and engineering into the nanoscale regime. This extension is at present taking place rapidly, when it comes to development of advanced processing techniques and rapid and precise characterization methods. However, there is a significant back-log when it comes to the theoretical development, which has not fully explored the significant advances in the processing and characterization. A back-log also exists in exploration of the effect of alloying elements on the structure and properties of ultrafine structured metals. However, the present collection of papers demonstrate the wide ranging interest in exploring these issues based on critical experiments and further technical advancements especially in 2D and 3D characterization techniques. Also coming through the presentations given here is the sense of excitement about this field, which not only bridges length scales in terms of structural scales from micrometres to atomic dimensions but also in terms of research approaches so that this field links people interested in fundamental mechanisms with those working close to industrial applications.