Dr. Jeffrey Rickman, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor of Physics at Lehigh University will give a seminar to the interested students and faculty at Discovery Park.

Abstract

The presence of interfaces can have a dramatic effect on phase behavior in materials. In this talk, I will first describe a thermodynamic analysis of interfacial layering (complexion) transitions at grain boundaries in binary alloys using both simplified lattice models and off-lattice semigrand-canonical Monte Carlo simulations. In particular, complexion diagrams are developed for these alloys that highlight the richness of the phase-like behavior of these systems and, in particular, a series of first-order transitions and associated critical points. These diagrams will be compared with their experimental counterparts in various systems. I will then discuss the impact of these transitions on grain-boundary kinetics via the construction of complexion time-temperature transformation (TTT) diagrams and on the Kapitza resistance of grain boundaries. Finally, I will outline our current efforts to construct experimentally-informed models of grain growth in thin films.

Biography

Dr. Rickman earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Carnegie Mellon University and joined Lehigh University in 1993 after postdoctoral appointments at the University of Michigan and Argonne National Laboratory. He holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Physics and Materials Science and Engineering, and has received the Class of '61 Professorship. Dr. Rickman has received several honors including the Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation and the Chambers Junior Professorship and the Culler Prize (Miami University). He is a Fellow of ASM International and a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society.