Nano- and Micromaterials

In nanotechnology to date, much emphasis is placed on the creation of the nanostructures by means of micro- and atomic manipulations. This research ?eld has been highly respected and promoted by the society, polytics, and economics. Rapid progress in this ?eld has been greatly stimulated by more fundamental study on nano- and micromaterials. In this respect, the sci- tists and engineers in di?erent ?elds of physics, chemistry, materials science, and information technology including experimentalists, theorists, and also researchers doing computer simulations have collaborated to form a new interdisciplinary ?eld. This book covers the recent advances in this growing research ?eld, in particular, those developed mainly in the interdisciplinary research project named "e;Materials science for nano- and microscale control: Creation of new structures and functions,"e; which was formed in 2004 in the Graduate School of Engineering of Yokohama National University in collaboration with the Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University and other universities. The topics described in this book are as follows.