Pulsed lasers are lasers with a single laser pulse width of less than 0.25 s, operating only once in every certain time interval. Commonly used pulsed lasers are nanosecond, femtosecond, and picosecond lasers. A pulsed laser produces short pulses with a short interaction time with the material, which can largely avoid impact on the thermal movement of molecules and has a minimal thermal impact on the surrounding materials, thus having significant advantages in precision microfabrication. It is now widely used in flexible electronics, chips, medicine, and other fields, such as photographic resin curing, microwelding, vision correction, heart stent manufacturing, etc. However, as an emerging processing technology, the application prospects of pulsed lasers have yet to be fully expanded, and there is still a need to continuously explore the mechanisms of interaction with materials, to manufacture advanced functional structures, and to develop advanced process technologies.

Listed by Unglue.it.

Constant striving to reduce pollutant emissions, greenhouse gases and energy consumption, i.e., sustainable development, forces the development of new and improved materials, technologies and manufacturing processes. One of the areas of sustainable development of the global economy is also the development of laser devices and the spreading of laser technology applications.The book deals with important issues related to the development of science and technology in the field of application the laser beam for joining, surface treatment, coatings. However, the thematic scope is not limited only to mentioned issues. The scope of the book covers issues related to advances in computational modelling of heat sources in laser and arc processes, unique techniques of underwater welding or unique techniques of forced cooling the weld metal under solidification during arc welding or hybrid process of laser deposition under cryogenic conditions, microstructural and mechanical characterisation of coatings and joints produced by different welding technologies. The above book contains valuable information, both theoretical and practical research results in the field of advanced technologies of joining, surface treatment and coatings, quality control and assessment, as well as management of the technological processes. Therefore, I deeply believe that the book will be a valuable and helpful for young scientists, engineers, and students in the field of welding and surface engineering, materials science, and manufacturing engineering.

Listed by Unglue.it.

Ultra-precision machining is a multi-disciplinary research area that is an important branch of manufacturing technology. With continuous advancements in science and technology and the diversification of industrial needs, ultra-precision machining has become an indispensable component of modern industry. It is widely used in aerospace, semiconductors, optics, microelectronics, automotive manufacturing, biomedical, energy, and other fields with the goal of realizing ultra-precision shape machining or improving surface roughness. The increasing demand for components with ultra-precision accuracy has stimulated the development of ultra-precision machining technology in recent decades. Therefore, this reprint brings together research papers on the frontiers of ultra-precision machining in the hope of advancing the development of related industrial technologies and providing a theoretical basis for subsequent research by relevant scholars.

Listed by Unglue.it.

Tribology grapples with diverse challenges, seeking to minimize friction and wear, and to advance the energy efficiency and sustainability of machinery. Laser surface engineering emerges as a highly effective solution with which to tackle these challenges. Recent advancements in this field, including techniques like laser texture, laser deposition, laser cladding, and laser modification, have found widespread applications in tribology. Surface-strengthening coatings, prepared via laser manufacturing, stand out as one of the most efficient strategies to mitigate tribological issues. The laser processing-related techniques either alter the surface texture or create a new film, thereby enhancing the mechanical, physical, and chemical properties of the contact surfaces. These innovations have seamlessly integrated into various industrial applications. This comprehensive reprint encompasses surface texturing, laser processing, and post-machining. Various metals, such as cast iron, steel, high-entropy alloy, and Ti-based, Cu-based, Al-based, and Ni-based alloys, are explored in this reprint, with a dedicated focus on leveraging laser surface engineering for tribological enhancements. In the pursuit of ongoing advancements in this field, contributors participate in this reprint, encompassing the domains of laser surface engineering and tribology, in order to delve into and share their insights. We anticipate that this reprint will draw attention to key research trends and state-of-the-art developments in laser surface engineering for tribology.

Listed by Unglue.it.

Nanomaterials are a large area of research at present. These materials, which have at least one of their dimensions in the nanoscale (i.e., in a length range from 1 nm to 100 nm), have remarkable or unconventional properties, unlike bulk materials. These materials are currently used in many applications; however, new potential uses are being investigated. In this sense, there is large interest in their use in medicine, electronic devices, the production and storage of energy, composite materials, etc. The production of nanomaterials is addressed through physical and/or chemical methods; however, most of these methods exhibit low reproducibility or a low production rate or make use of toxic chemicals. In order to avoid most of these drawbacks, the laser-based synthesis of nanomaterials has emerged as an alternative to overcome these limitations. This family of methods use a laser beam to produce different nanomaterials (e.g., nanoparticles, nanowires or 2D materials) using diverse approaches. Techniques such as those based on laser ablation, laser vaporization, pulsed laser deposition (PLD), laser–chemical vapor deposition (LCVD), etc., are being explored at present to fabricate these nanoscale materials with a controlled size and shape. In this context, here we present research papers addressing the most recent developments in this field to summarize the current state of the art in the synthesis of nanomaterials using laser techniques.

Listed by Unglue.it.

The improvement of fabrication resolutions is an eternal challenge for miniaturizing and enhancing the integration degrees of devices. Laser processing is one of the most widely used techniques in manufacturing due to its high flexibility, high speed, and environmental friendliness. The fabrication resolution of laser processing is, however, limited by the diffraction limit. Recently, much effort has been made to overcome the diffraction limit in nano fabrication. Specifically, combinations of multiphoton absorption by ultrafast lasers and the threshold effect associated with a Gaussian beam profile provide fabrication resolutions far beyond the diffraction limit. The use of the optical near-field achieves nano ablation with feature sizes below 100 nm. Multiple pulse irradiation from the linearly polarized ultrafast laser produces periodic nanostructures with a spatial period much smaller than the wavelength. Unlimited diffraction resolutions can also be achieved with shaped laser beams. In the meanwhile, lasers are also widely used for the synthesis of nano materials including fullerenes and nano particles. In view of the rapid advancement of this field in recent years, this Special Issue aims to introduce the state-of-the-art in nano fabrication and nano lithography, based on laser technologies, by leading groups in the field.

Listed by Unglue.it.

In this Special Issue, you will find new directions in the research on liquid crystal applications. To be honest, we were surprised to find 10 papers covering a variety of application areas, with no overlap between them. The only important application without a related article was “display”! This was exactly the situation we hoped for. In this Special Issue, you can find 10 articles discussing the applications of LC devices or LC materials. The applications are liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) for optical communication, laser processing and wireless optical charging, wavelength selective filters, waveguides, smart windows, LCDs for terahertz waves, LC polymers for polarizing grating and LC material for an ink.We believe that this Special Issue will help researchers focusng on optical devices or LC materials to obtain inspiration for new devices using liquid crystals.

Listed by Unglue.it.

Multifunctional polymer composites are a class of smart materials in which the polymer matrix is reinforced with fillers to tailor with different functionalities. The promise of integrating several functions into a single material is quite challenging. Moreover, their lightweight, durable, and customizable materials positions multifunctional polymer composites as a key enabler for next-generation technologies. This Reprint will focus on these aspects, thereby providing readers with an insightful idea of multifunctionality in polymer composites.

Listed by Unglue.it.

The microwave and millimeter wave frequency range is nowadays widely exploited in a large variety of fields including (wireless) communications, security, radar, spectroscopy, but also astronomy and biomedical, to name a few. This Special Issue focuses on the interaction between the nanoscale dimensions and centimeter to millimeter wavelengths. This interaction has been proven to be efficient for the design and fabrication of devices showing enhanced performance. Novel contributions are welcome in the field of devices based on nanoscaled geometries and materials. Applications cover, but not are limited to, electronics, sensors, signal processing, imaging and metrology, all exploiting nanoscale/nanotechnology at microwave and millimeter waves. Contributions can take the form of short communications, regular or review papers.

Listed by Unglue.it.

This book derives from the Special Issue of the Manufacturing Engineering Society (MES) that was launched as a Special Issue of the journal Materials. The 48 contributions, published in this book, explore the evolution of traditional manufacturing models toward the new requirements of the Manufacturing Industry 4.0 and present cutting-edge advances in the field of Manufacturing Engineering focusing on additive manufacturing and 3D printing, advances and innovations in manufacturing processes, sustainable and green manufacturing, manufacturing systems (machines, equipment and tooling), metrology and quality in manufacturing, Industry 4.0, product lifecycle management (PLM) technologies, and production planning and risks.

Listed by Unglue.it.

This book derives from the Special Issue of the Manufacturing Engineering Society (MES) that was launched as a Special Issue of the journal Materials. The 48 contributions, published in this book, explore the evolution of traditional manufacturing models toward the new requirements of the Manufacturing Industry 4.0 and present cutting-edge advances in the field of Manufacturing Engineering focusing on additive manufacturing and 3D printing, advances and innovations in manufacturing processes, sustainable and green manufacturing, manufacturing systems (machines, equipment and tooling), metrology and quality in manufacturing, Industry 4.0, product lifecycle management (PLM) technologies, and production planning and risks.

Listed by Unglue.it.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present the latest theoretical and experimental achievements concerning the mechanisms of microstructural change in metallic materials subject to different processing methods, and their effect on mechanical properties. It is my pleasure to present a series of compelling scientific papers written by scientists from the community of transition group metals, alloys, and intermetallic compounds.

Listed by Unglue.it.

Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors are becoming a key enabling technology for several strategic fields, including power electronics, illumination, and sensors. This reprint collects the 23 papers covering the full spectrum of the above applications and providing contributions from the on-going research at different levels, from materials to devices and from circuits to systems.

Listed by Unglue.it.