9623744 Slamovich Many applications will benefit from low temperature (< 100(C) processing routes to ceramic materials. For example, dielectric ceramics may be incorporated into microelectronics manufacturing processes without degrading metallizations, and ceramics may be coprocessed with polymers for high strength capacitors or abrasion resistant coatings. Hydrothermal processing is a route to ceramics below 100(C, involving the formation of crystalline material from reactants in an aqueous medium. This proposal is for an initial four year period to investigate novel approaches to processing ceramic and polymer/ceramic thin films based on low temperature hydrothermal processing. The research effort seeks to develop routes to control film morphology via an understanding of hydrothermal growth mechanisms. Hydrothermal processing will also be used to fabricate polymer/ceramic composite films. %%% Career education goals are centered around implementing Purdue's new NSF sponsored materials processing curriculum. The goal of this Career Development Plan is to develop new routes towards integrated materials processing, complementing the educational objectives of Purdue's new Materials Science and Engineering curriculum. ***
