Glass Current Issues

Glass --- Current Issues is the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Study Institute held in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife between the 2nd and 13th April 1984. The objectives of the School were twofold. Firstly to inform participants of actual and developing technolog- ical applications of glassy materials in which fundamental science makes a strong contribution, and secondly to bring together scientists from the widely different backgrounds of glass science and technology to promote mutual understanding and collaboration. The amorphous state has for more than a decade now been a renaissance of scientific and technological activity extending beyond traditional glass technology research. Striking developments of amorphous materials have been made in fields such as metallurgy, electronics and telecommunications and even in disciplines until recently less concerned by materials science, such as colloid chemistry, medicine and agriculture. The physical and chemical properties brought into application here result from the interaction between the glass composition and its non-crystalline structure. One role of the basic research is to understand this interaction, which in time through development, helps to extend the range of properties and applications. In this meeting we hoped to sensitize participants to the vast range of applications of amorphous materials which exploit their unique properties, and thus broaden future investigation. The program was organised around seven topics, signposts of scientific and technological activity in the 1980S: optical materials, amorphous metals, crystallisation phenomena, electronic and electrical devices, sol-gel preparative methods, composite materials and long-term applications.