Materials Sciences in the Department of Energy
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Materials Sciences in the Department of Energy I.L. Thomas Director, Division of Materials Sciences Office of Basic Energy Sciences U.S. Department of Energy W i t h i n t h e U . S . D e p a r t m e n t of E n e r g y , i n t h e Office of E n e r g y Research, the Office of Basic Energy Sciences is responsible for supporting fundamental research in the natural sciences that is needed to accomplish the missions of the Department. The Division of Materials Sciences constitutes one portion of a wide range of research supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Other programs are administered by the Office's Chemical Sciences, Energy Biosciences, Engineering and Geosciences, Advanced Energy Projects, and Carbon Dioxide Research Divisions. The Division of Materials Sciences traces its origin back to the Atomic Energy Commission's metallurgy and materials program of 1948. During its 39-year existence, the Division of Materials Sciences has been responsible for many significant discoveries and developments. Some examples of its more notable activities have been in neutron scattering, which has greatly aided our modern u n d e r s t a n d i n g of materials; radiation effects and defect structures; separation, preparation, and property measurements of individual rare earth elements which are used in lasers and as phosphors in television sets and computer display m o n i t o r s ; a m o r p h o u s alloys which have started new areas of research a n d technology; a n d laser annealing combined with ion implantation now used routinely by the semiconductor industry. Yet the most important accomplishment has been the establishment and maintenance of a materials science effort of the highest quality. A measure of this accomplishment is the more than 8,000 publications in scienMRS BULLETIN/JANUARY 1988
tific and technical journals produced by this program during the last five years which have increased the understanding of materials phenomena and properties substantially. In this five-year time span, over 650 new scientists and engineers were trained in research programs at universities and the Department's laboratories. Materials research requires interaction among many disciplines and the use of experimental facilities as simple as an optical microscope and as complex as nuclear reactors and synchrotron radiation sources. Both the people and the tools are needed to find generic solutions to technical problems, to tailor materials p r o p e r t i e s for ever more demanding uses, and to exploit discoveries wherever they may be made. For example, in fossil energy systems, high temperature corrosion is a serious problem in coal conversion plants. Although the promise of solar energy is substantial, use is limited primarily by the cost, performance, and lifetime of the materials involved. For energy storage, progress in a d v a n c e d batteries is very dependent on understanding corrosion of the electrode materials. Ceramic components could be used to make more fuel efficient automobile engines; however, the behavior of
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