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A D V A N C E D
M A T E R I A L S
&
P R O C E S S E S |
N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R
2 0 1 6
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Physicists applied the technique
to thin films of lanthanum cobalt
oxide—a sequence of positively and
negatively charged atomic layers,
stacked on a 15-nm-thin film. In these
materials, enormous electrostatic fields
form between layers. To avoid this high
field energy cost, nature rearranges
the charges, either through a process
that preserves film face smoothness—
called electronic reconstruction—or a
process that results in a corrugated sur-
face, which hinders devices based on
film interfaces, especially when mate-
rial properties change on an atomic
scale. The resonant x-ray reflectometry
method reveals the promising news
that electronic reconstruction occurs
at transition-metal oxide interfaces.
This method could be applied to other
microscopic properties of these mate-
rials as well—such as the electronic
occupation of atomic orbitals and
spin orientation—and lead to their use
in applications such as lossless com-
puter memory and ultrafast processors.
NEW NIST GUIDE BREAKS
ONTO SCENE
TheNational Instituteof Standards
and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg,
Md., released a new, expanded edition
of the NIST Recommended Practice
Guide, “Fractography of Ceramics and
Glasses” (NIST Special Publication 960-
16e2). First issued in 2007, the guide
was developed to help engineers and
scientists analyze fracture patterns in
ceramics and glasses used in consumer
goods, building materials, and medical
devices and implants. This edition, with
nearly 1000 images—300 of which are
new—is 15% larger than its predecessor
and includes updates such as descrip-
tions of recent documentary standards,
material on new microscopy tech-
niques, and an expanded chapter on
Fracture of a sapphire dome. Courtesy
of NIST.
quantitative fracture analysis. Addition-
ally, case studies help readers see how
the guide is used in practice. While hard
copies are available upon request, the
guide may be accessed free of charge
online. nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/spe-
cialpublications/NIST.SP.960-16e2.pdf.