This book presents emerging contemporary optical techniques of ultrafast science which have opened entirely new vistas for probing biological entities and processes. The spectrum reaches from time-resolved imaging and multiphoton microscopy to cancer therapy and studies of DNA damage. The book displays interdisciplinary research at the interface of physics and biology. Emerging topics on the horizon are also discussed, like the use of squeezed light, frequency combs and terahertz imaging a...

Nanoscience stands out for its interdisciplinarity. Barriers between disciplines disappear and the fields tend to converge at the very smallest scale, where basic principles and tools are universal. Novel properties are inherent to nanosized systems due to quantum effects and a reduction in dimensionality: nanoscience is likely to continue to revolutionize many areas of human activity, such as materials science, nanoelectronics, information processing, biotechnology and medicine. This text...

Colloids are submicron particles that are ubiquitous in nature (milk, clay, blood) and industrial products (paints, drilling fluids, food). In recent decades it has become clear that adding depletants such as polymers or small colloids to colloidal dispersions allows one to tune the interactions between the colloids and in this way control the stability, structure and rheological properties of colloidal dispersions. This book offers a concise introduction to the fundamentals of depletion e...

This book covers various aspects of lasers in materials science, including a comprehensive overview on basic principles of laser-materials interactions and applications enabled by pulsed laser systems. The material is organized in a coherent way, providing the reader with a harmonic architecture.While systematically covering the major current and emerging areas of lasers processing applications, the Volume provides examples of targeted modification of material properties achieved th...

The third generation of solar cells includes those based on semiconductor quantum dots. This sophisticated technology applies nanotechnology and quantum mechanics theory to enhance the performance of ordinary solar cells. Although a practical application of quantum dot solar cells has yet to be achieved, a large number of theoretical calculations and experimental studies have confirmed the potential for meeting the requirement for ultra-high conversion efficiency. In this book, high-profil...

This two-volume book provides an overview of physical techniques used to characterize the structure of solid materials, on the one hand,and to investigate the reactivity of their surface, on the other. Therefore this book is a must-have for anyone working in fields related to surfacereactivity. Among the latter, and because of its most important industrial impact, catalysis has been used as the directing thread of the book.After the preface and a general introduction t...

Handbook of Radioactivity Analysis describes the preparation of samples from a wide variety of matrices, assists the investigator or technician in the selection and use of appropriate radiation detector, and presents the latest state-of-the-art computerized and automated methods of analysis. The new Handbook of Radioactivity Analysis is suitable as a teaching text for university and professional training courses. Of interest to those working in a wide spectrum of disciplines, including: sc...

The fascination with gold is a story which spans millennia, however scientists have recently found a new interest for gold when it is divided into miniscule grains, such as gold nanoparticles. This scientific enthusiasm started in various fields of science in the middle of the 1980s and the present book offers a panorama of the major scientific achievements obtained with gold nanoparticles.Various topics are reviewed such as: gold nanoparticle preparation methods, their plasmon resonance a...

In this thesis the author presents the results of extensive spectroscopy experiments beyond the bounds of each transition element to clarify the origins of characteristic spectral features and charge dynamics in charge-spin-orbital coupled phenomena in Mott-transition oxides. Several counterpart 3d transition-metal oxides were adopted as model systems suitable for examining the mechanisms involved, and their electronic structures were systematically investigated using three main spectrosco...

Relaxation and diffusion are general and common phenomena in many branches of condensed matter physics, chemistry and materials sciences. In disordered and partially ordered systems the classes of materials include liquids, colloids, polymers, rubbers, plastic crystals, biomolecules, ceramics, electrolytes, fuel cell materials, molten salts, glasses, and etc. Each class is further subdivided into many different types of materials. For example, glasses vary from metallic glasses, oxide glas...

Laser Processing and Chemistry gives an overview of the fundamentals and applications of laser-matter interactions, in particular with regard to laser material processing. Special attention is given to laser-induced physical and chemical processes at gas-solid, liquid-solid, and solid-solid interfaces. Starting with the background physics, the book proceeds to examine applications of laser techniques in micro-machining, and the patterning, coating, and modification of material surfaces. Th...