Several materials of technological importance require high temperature processing over long durations and thus demand a large cost and energy footprint. Electromagnetic waves such as microwave radiation and lasers can lower both temperatures and times involved in processing various types of materials, ranging from cooking food, making pharmaceutical drugs and 3D printed plastic parts to applications in precision surgery. What is common to all these examples is the idea that the electromagnetic fields absorbed within a material may not be immediately converted to heat, but can instead promote other forms of chemical or physical reactions. This grant provides funding to organize an inaugural two-day workshop to foster collaboration between the research communities that use electromagnetic fields (in particular microwave radiation and lasers) for making materials. This workshop will generate discussions and cross-pollinate ideas between members of both communities addressing longstanding scientific challenges in using electromagnetic fields for materials synthesis/processing. From an industrial standpoint, technological advances in processing advanced materials using electromagnetic fields can have a smaller energy footprint compared to conventional synthesis and as such will have a profound impact on society. These materials will additionally find use in diverse areas like sustainable infrastructure, transportation, clean energy, water management, and healthcare.
This workshop will foster collaborations between the research communities that use electromagnetic fields, particularly microwave radiation and lasers for materials synthesis. A grand challenge common to both communities is that the fundamental mechanisms behind far-from-equilibrium, non-thermal chemical and phase transformations under electromagnetic excitation remain largely unknown. For example, the low temperature crystallization and sintering of ceramics by both microwave radiation and lasers (e.g., pulsed laser annealing) has been reported and are potential non-thermal effects of significant industrial importance, as conventional synthetic routes even under the same thermal profile cannot reproduce the results. Accordingly, specific focus during the invited talks and break-out discussion sessions will be placed on examining (1) theoretical models, (2) experimental tools, (3) in-situ and in-operando characterization techniques, and (4) computational methods to identify and prove the existence of far-from-equilibrium effects under electromagnetic fields and apply them for rational design of materials. The continuing goal will be to establish a multidisciplinary community spanning experimental and theoretical/computational research groups by organizing regular meetings, initiating collaborations, and conceiving transformative research proposals that will lead to answers to the longstanding questions in the field.
