| Abstract Scope |
Traditional materials theory sees a defect as a feature that moves us further from equilibrium, which means that the most interesting materials are often extremely unstable. In this talk, I discuss how one can manipulate the natural variations in stress, chemistry, and atomic structure near grain boundaries and dislocations to stabilize these features. We use atomistic modeling to demonstrate that dislocations can drive local complexion transformations, with the final structure strongly dependent on the alloy choice. We also show that grain boundary networks can allow for interesting complexion transitions, driven by local variations in dopant segregation. Finally, we also show preliminary results outlining the kinetics of these transformations. Specifically, carefully designed variations in cooling rate are connected to complexion thickness in a polycrystalline material. As a whole, this work demonstrates that our field is arriving at the cusp of a new era of materials science, where one can make “defects-by-design.” |