Entropy in the Solid State
Although we often think of crystalline materials as perfect, they can accommodate surprising levels of structural disorder. This isn’t just a curiosity, but leads directly to applications ranging from solid-state refrigeration to switchable dielectrics. I will discuss ways to measure this disorder, and how and why we might want deliberately to introduce it.
About the speaker
Dr Anthony Phillips is Reader in Physics and Chemistry of Materials at Queen Mary University of London, and recently completed his term as Chair of the IOP’s Structural Condensed Matter Physics Group.