Scope

Materials scientists and engineers traditionally use the thermodynamic description of crystalline phases to tailor and process alloys to achieve a desired internal structure at the microscale. The resulting defect structure determines the properties of a material. Defect phase diagrams represent a breakthrough approach in materials science, bridging the gap between traditional bulk phase diagrams and the manipulation of crystal defects and a prerequisite e.g. to designing impurity-tolerant alloys for a circular economy. The workshop will explore the latest concepts and developments of defect phases and their representation in phase diagrams covering aspects such as:

- The theoretical foundations of defect phase diagrams, including thermodynamic principles and their application to defects such as point defects, grain boundaries, dislocations, and surfaces

- Advanced experimental techniques such as aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom probe tomography (APT) for observing and characterizing defect phases within the bulk of a material

- Computational methods for constructing defect phase diagrams, including ab initio simulations and statistical phase evaluations

- The potential of defect phase diagrams to enable a paradigm shift in sustainable materials design, by allowing for the systematic selection and manipulation of defects with desired structural and chemical configurations

- The development of novel materials design concepts, based on new quantitative descriptors of the local structure and chemistry of defect phases that govern the bulk properties of a material

This workshop aims to bring together experts from various fields of materials science to discuss the current state of research, challenges, and future directions in the development and application of defect phase diagrams as a new paradigm for materials design and engineering. It continues our series of workshop covering current topics in the general area of ab initio based materials science and will again utilise our established format of an hour-long tutorial-style presentation by the invited speakers and extended discussion time, which allow for ample exchange and in-depth discussions. All participants will have the possibility to present their current research in short contributed talks or during the poster session(s)