Materials sciences programs, Fiscal year 1997

The Division of Materials Sciences is responsible for basic research and research facilities in materials science topics important to the mission of the Department of Energy. The programmatic divisions under the Office of Basic Energy Sciences are Chemical Sciences, Engineering and Geosciences, and Energy Biosciences. Materials Science is an enabling technology. The performance parameters, economics, environmental acceptability and safety of all energy generation, conversion, transmission and conservation technologies are limited by the properties and behavior of materials. The Materials Sciences programs develop scientific understanding of the synergistic relationship among synthesis, processing, structure, properties, behavior, performance and other characteristics of materials. Emphasis is placed on the development of the capability to discover technologically, economically, and environmentally desirable new materials and processes, and the instruments and national user facilities necessary for achieving such progress. Materials Sciences subfields include: physical metallurgy, ceramics, polymers, solid state and condensed matter physics, materials chemistry, surface science and related disciplines where the emphasis is on the science of materials. This report includes program descriptions for 517 research programs including 255 at 14 DOE National Laboratories, 262 research grants (233 of which are at universities), and 29 Small Business Innovation Research Grants. Five cross-cutting indices located at the rear of this book identify all 517 programs according to principal investigator(s), materials, techniques, phenomena, and environment