Materials science

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Materials science includes those parts of chemistry, physics, geology, and even biology that deal with the physical, chemical or biological properties of materials. It is usually considered an applied science, in which the properties under study have some industrial purpose.

Materials science encompasses all four classes of materials, the study of each of which may be considered a separate field: metals (1) and metallurgy, ceramics(2), semiconductors and other electronic materials, polymers(3), composites (4), and Biomaterials which may consist of the materials classes 1-4. Metallurgy and ceramics have long and separate histories as engineering disciplines, but because the science that underlies these disciplines applies to all classes of materials, materials science is recognized as a distinct discipline.

Materials science is related to materials engineering, which tends to focus on processing techniques (casting, rolling, welding, ion implantation, crystal growth, thin-film deposition, sintering, glassblowing, etc.), analytical techniques (electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, calorimetry, nuclear microscopy (HEFIB) etc.), materials design, and cost/benefit tradeoffs in industrial production of materials.

Table of contents

1 Sub-fields of materials science
2 Related topics in physics
3 See also

Sub-fields of materials science

Nanotechnology --- the creation and study of molecularly engineered materials (nanomaterials) with structures on the length scale of nanometers.
Crystallography --- the study of the physics of crystals, including
- defects in crystals, such as grain boundaries and dislocations, and their effects on physical properties;
- diffraction techniques, for phase identification.
Metallurgy --- the study of metals
Ceramics
Biomaterials
Solid-state chemistry --- the study of chemistry taking place within solids
Solid-state physics --- usually considered the study of quantum effects in solid material, such as semiconduction or superconduction.
Continuum mechanics --- the study of solids and fluids, assuming that they are continuous materials (rather than made of atoms).

Note that some practitioners often consider rheology a sub-field of materials science, because it can cover any material that flows. However, a typical rheology paper covers non-Newtonian fluid dynamics, so we place it as a sub-field of Continuum mechanics. See also granular material.