MULTIFUNCTIONAL AND MAGNETIC MATERIALS  

CHAIRMEN

Dr Jesús Heiras Aguirre (CNYN-UNAM), heiras@cnyn.unam.mx
Dr. José Trinidad Elizalde Galindo (UACJ) jose.elizalde@uacj.mx

Materials capable of performing two or more primay functions, either simulteously or sequentially, are called multifunctional. Those can be hybrid materials, that is, a mixture or combination of two materials of different compositions or crystalline phases (alternating layers of thin films, for exaple) or single-phase materials that ma behave multifunctional under applied electric and/or magnetic fields. Besides, the technology around us has a fundaental basis in magnetic materials. They are one of the key materials for mechanical energy conversion to electrical power.

Between the multifunctional materials, there is a great assortment of ceraics, which are used in electronic devices such as actuators, sensors, switches, capacitors, oscillators and ma also be used to mae engines. Magnetic, piezoelectric, pyroelectric and ferroelectric materials are extensively studied in present days not only for their potential technological applications but also because the understanding of the behavior and properties involves my phenomena that are in the frontier of knowledge such as “magnetoelectricity”, a property present in some multiferroic materials. For exaple, the fascinating magnetic spiral and helical structures that give place to an electrical polarization in some ceraics (maing them multifunctional) are a real challenge for the theoretical and experimental researchers in this field.

This symposium is a forum to present the results of theoretical and experimental research that ma include synthesis routes, sintering procedures, analysis, and characterization of the properties, as well as practical applications of the multifunctional and magnetic materials. Regarding the theory, we are interested in studies that allow a deep understanding of the involved phenomena, to design new materials, to predict their behavior, and as a guide to improve on existing ones.