Structure-property relationship of metal-ceramic interfaces

The main emphasis of this book lies on the structure-property relationship, so as to bridge the length-scale gap involved in the study of materials stability. This paper focuses on several aspects within this framework by looking at the detailed atomic structure on a nanometer scale. Next, by using this information a transition is made via a mesoscopic length scale to explain the mechanical properties of metal-ceramic interfaces at a macroscopic scale. The basic philosophy is that depending on the material property one likes to investigate, it is necessary to consider the appropriate length scale where the relevant processes take place. The challenging part of this mesoscopic approach is of course to define the physical basis at the various length scales and the corresponding transitions involved. For that reason basically two case studies will be worked out. The first one is dealing with the atomic description of metal-ceramic interfaces using high resolution transmission electron microscopy as the main tool. The question to be answered is whether this image information can be interpreted in terms of the atomic structure and whether the latter will provide some information of the bond-strength between two dissimilar materials like a metal and a ceramic material. In order to make the transition from this nanoscale regime to a mesoscopic scale an anisotropic linear elasticity description will be employed as well. As a matter of course the way the material is processed is usually crucial for the mechanical property. For ultra high resolution transmission electron microscopy it is of great help to have well defined samples and for that reason the research on a nanoscale is carried out on internally oxidized metals with reasonably well defined ceramic precipitates.