Micro-/Nanomechanics of materials

High performance material systems are usually complex with respect to their elemental and phase composition and their response to plastic deformation is governed by local, intrinsic processes. To understand the complex interplay of the different microstructural features during material deformation, it is critical to properly understand the deformation behavior of these individual features. We aim at revealing fundamental deformation mechanisms at the small scale to better understand the complex behavior of macroscopic materials that are used in electronic components, for structural applications or in energy-related material systems.

Artificial architectured metamaterials

Common working materials are solid and more or less heavy. However, targeted material removal in a solid can lead to beneficial material properties, such as high relative strengths, a negative refractive index or outstanding energy absorption. These architectured materials are referred to as metamaterials and have a great potential for exciting properties. We explore how special material designs improve material weight or how increased surface areas advance functional materials. Consequently, these light-weight, functional materials call for applications in the energy sector.

Nanostructured materials

A simple relation holds true in many materials, i.e. the smaller the better. For example, reduced grain sizes of a material generally increase the materials strength. The same trend appears in laminated materials, such as multilayer stacks. Reduction in the layer thickness generally increases the strength of the system. In addition, the reduction of grain size or layer thickness generally increases the internal interface content – grain boundaries and hetero interfaces - of such materials. Especially when the critical feature length drops into the nanometer length scale, massive interface fractions exist, which provide a playground for material property manipulations. We explore these nanostructured materials from a (micro)structural point of view by advanced electron microscopy techniques, but additionally how modifications of interface properties can be influenced by mechanical stresses or plastic deformation.