A Compendium Of The Properties Of Materials At Low Temperatures

The minimum temperature in the natural universe is 2.7 K. Laboratory refrigerators can reach temperatures in the microkelvin range. Modern industrial refrigerators cool foods at 200 K, whereas space mission payloads must be capable of working at temperatures as low as 20 K. Superconducting magnets used for NMR work at 4.2 K. Hence the properties of materials must be accurately known also at cryogenic temperatures. This book provides a guide for engineers, physicists, chemists, technicians who wish to approach the field of low-temperature material properties. The focus is on the thermal properties and a large spectrum of experimental cases is reported. The book presents updated tables of low-temperature data on materials and a thorough bibliography supplements any further research. Key Features include: ° Detailed technical description of experiments ° Description of the newest cryogenic apparatus ° Offers data on cryogenic properties of the latest new materials ° Current reference review

In writing this monograph, the aim has been to consider the mechanical properties of the wide range of materials now available in such a way as to start with the fundamental nature of these properties and to follow the discussion through to the point at which the reader is able to comprehend the significance or otherwise of the large amounts of data now available in design manuals and other compilations. In short, it is hoped that this volume will be used as a companion to these data compilations and as an aid to their interpretation. In attempting to cover such a wide field, a large degree of selection has been necessary, as complete volumes have been written on topics which here have had to be covered in a few pages or less. It is inevitable that not everyone will agree with the choice made, especially if it is his own subject which has been discussed rather briefly, and the author accepts full res ponsibility for the selection made. The book is written at a level which should be easily followed by a university graduate in science or engineer ing, although, if his background has not included a course in materials science, some groundwork may be lacking.

This is a thoroughly revised version of the original book published in 1986. About half of the contents of the previous version remain essentially unchanged, and one quarter has been rewritten and updated. The rest consists of completely new and extended material. Recent research has focussed on new materials made through "molecular engineering", and computational materials science through ab initio electron structure calculations. Another trend is the ever growing interdisciplinary aspect of both basic and applied materials science. There is an obvious need for reviews that link well established results to the modern approaches. One purpose of this book is to provide such an overview in a specific field of materials science, namely thermophysical phenomena that are intimately connected with the lattice vibrations of solids. This includes, e.g., elastic properties and electrical and thermal transport. Furthermore, this book attempts to present the results in such a form that the reader can clearly see their domain of applicability, for instance if and how they depend on crystal structure, defects, applied pressure, crystal anisotropy etc. The level and presentation is such that the results can be immediately used in research. Graduate students in condensed matter physics, metallurgy, inorganic chemistry or geophysical materials will benefit from this book as will theoretical physicists and scientists in industrial research laboratories.

This textbook contains information essential for successful experiments at low temperatures. The first chapters describe the low-temperature properties of liquids and solid matter, including liquid helium. Most of the book is devoted to refrigeration techniques and the physics on which they rely, the definition of temperature, thermometry, and a variety of design and construction techniques. The lively and practical style make it easy to read and particularly useful to anyone beginning research in low-temperature physics. Low-temperature scientists will find it of great value due to its extensive compilation of materials data and relevant new results.