Including Materials Science Communications
An International, Interdisciplinary Journal on Science, Characterisation and Processing of Advanced Materials
The International Journal of the Chinese Society for Materials Science

1.

Materials Chemistry and Physics is devoted to short communications, full-length research papers and feature articles on interrelationships among structure, properties, processing and performance of materials. The Editors welcome manuscripts on thin films, surface and interface science, materials degradation and reliability, metallurgy, semiconductors and optoelectronic materials, fine ceramics, magnetics, superconductors, specialty polymers, nano-materials and composite materials.

2. Types of Contribution

•Full-length research papers describing original work not previously published
•Critical reviews
•Research communications giving a complete description of a limited investigation

Contributions are accepted on the understanding that the authors have obtained the necessary authority for publication.

Submission of an article must be accompanied by an explicit declaration which states that :

1. The article is original.
2. The article has been written by the stated authors who are ALL aware of its content and approve its submission.
3. The article has not been published previously.
4. The article is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
5. No conflict of interest exists, or if such conflict exists, the exact nature of the conflict must be declared.
6. If accepted, the article will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in any language, without the written consent of the publisher.

All communications must indicate the name, e-mail, fax, telephone and full postal address of the author to whom proofs should be sent. This author is responsible for informing all co-authors that the manuscript has been submitted to this journal.

3. Submission of Manuscripts

Authors must submit their articles using the secure online submission system at http://ees.elsevier.com/matchemphys. On-line submission removes the need to submit hard copy.

4. Preparation of Manuscripts

In order to achieve rapid publication, it is essential to precisely follow these instructions. Failure to do so can result in a delay in publication.

4.1 Language
Papers will be published in English. Authors' manuscripts must be consistent in style, spelling and syntax.
English Language: Manuscripts should be proof-read and have English language errors corrected before submission as we may have to return papers due to poor language usage. Elsevier has negotiated with five different language editing companies to provide their services to our authors at favourable rates. You will find a listing of these companies which provide pre-submission language editing on http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorsview.authors/languageediting/.

4.2 Estimation of length
For a rough estimate of the final length of their printed article, authors should count 850 words per full two-column page and four illustrations per page.

4.3 Title
Papers should be headed by a concise and informative title. This should be followed by the name(s) of the author(s) and by the name and complete address of the laboratory in which the work was performed. If the address of the author at the time when the paper will appear will be other than that where the work was carried out, this may be stated in a footnote, but footnotes should otherwise be avoided. Recognition for financial support should not be made by a footnote to the title or name of the author but should be included in Acknowledgements at the end of the paper.

4.4 Abstract
An abstract of 50-200 words should be included at the beginning of a paper. The abstract should comprise a brief and factual account of the contents and conclusions of the paper as well as an indication of any new information presented and its relevance. Abstracts should be understandable in isolation, and reference to formulae, equations or references that appear in the main text is thus not permissible.

4.5 Keywords
A maximum of four keywords should be indicated below the abstract to describe the content of the manuscript. Keywords should be selected from the recommended list published regularly in the Journal. The list can be found at the end of these instructions, Keyword Listing.



4.6 Introduction
A full-length paper should have a short Introduction. This should state the reasons for the work, with brief reference to previous work on the subject.

4.7 References
The references should be brought together at the end of the article, and numbered in the order of their appearance in the text. Footnotes should not include bibliographic material, and reference lists should not include material that could more appropriately appear as a footnote. Authors should check whether every reference in the text appears in the list of references and vice versa. Numerals for references are given in square brackets. In the reference list, journals [1], books [2], and edited multi-author books [3] should be cited in accordance with the following examples:

[1] R.K. Singh, D.-G. Lee, J. Electron. Mater. 25 (1996) 137.
[2] D. Palik, Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids II, Academic Press, New York, 1991.
[3] G. Turrel, P. Dhamelincourt, in: J.J. Laserna (Ed.), Modern Techniques in Raman Spectroscopy, Wiley, Chichester, 1996, p.109.

Each reference should be complete; thus the use of ibid., idem., et al., etc. is not permitted. Abbreviations for the titles of journals should follow the system used by the Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index and Supplements.

References to books should include the following information: title, publisher, town of publication, year of publication and page number. This information should also be given for published proceedings or abstracts of conferences, together with the location and date of the meeting, e.g.
[4] M. Frenklach, in: Proc. 2nd Int. Symp. on Diamond Materials, 1991, Electrochemical Society, Pennington, 1991, p. 142.

Articles not yet published should be given as "in press", "submitted for publication" or "in preparation". Details of personal communications or unpublished results should be given as a reference, e.g.
[5] A. Jones, personal communication, 1986.

4.8 Tables
Tables should be typed in double spacing on separate sheets and provided with a suitable heading. Tables should be clearly referred to in the text using Arabic numerals. Considerable thought should be given to layout so that the significance of the results can be easily grasped. Each table should have a title which makes the general meaning understandable without reference to the text.

4.9 Illustrations
For specific enquiries on the preparation of electronic artwork, including preferred formats, consult http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork

•TIFF or EPS files are the preferred format. The usability of other formats is to a large extent dependent on the information you supply us with concerning the software and platform used.
•Drawings made with Adobe Illustrator, Aldus Freehand and CorelDraw generally give good results. Drawings made in WordPerfect or Word generally have too low a resolution.
•The minimum acceptable resolution for line art images is 1000 dpi.
•For halftones and halftone/line art combinations, the minimum resolutions are 300dpi (500dpi if lettering is present).

Since we cannot a priori guarantee the usability of your graphic file(s), authors should be prepared to provide hard copies of all ilustrations if necessary. Figures will generally be reduced in size before printing and any lettering should be sufficiently large (minimum height, 3-5 mm) to remain legible. All illustrations should preferably require the same degree of reduction. Legends to illustrations should be typed in sequence on a separate page or pages and be understandable without reference to the text.

4.10 Colour Illustrations (Print)
Illustrations can be printed in colour when they are judged by the Editor to be essential to the presentation. The publisher and author will each bear part of the extra costs involved. The charge to be passed onto authors of articles containing colour figures is EUR 698 for the first page containing colour and EUR 349 for each additional page containing colour.

4.11 Colour Illustrations (Web)
If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork

Please note: Because of technical complications which can arise by converting colour figures to ?grey scale' (for the printed version should you not opt for colour in print) please submit in addition usable black and white prints corresponding to all the colour illustrations.

4.12 Preparation of supplementary data
Elsevier now accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit our Author Gateway at http://authors.elsevier.com.

5. Proofs

Proofs in PDF format will be sent to the corresponding author via e-mail and should be returned within 48 hours of receipt. Corrections should be restricted to typesetting errors.

6. Copyright

All authors must sign the "Transfer of Copyright" agreement before the article can be published. This will be sent to the corresponding author after the manuscript is accepted for publication. Authors are responsible for obtaining from the copyright holder permission to reproduce any figure for which copyright exists.

7. Offprints

Twenty-five offprints will be supplied free of charge. Further offprints can be ordered at a specially reduced rate using the order form sent to the corresponding author after the manuscript has been accepted. Orders for reprints will incur a 50% surcharge.

8. Further information

For enquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission), the status of accepted articles through our online Tracking Feature, author Frequently Asked Questions and any other enquiries relating to Elsevier , please consult http://authors.elsevier.com. For specific enquiries on the preparation of electronic artwork, consult the journal homepage via the Author Gateway at http://authors.elsevier.com.

Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided when an article is accepted for publication.

9. Editors

Professor Kwang-Lung Lin
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, Taiwan 701, R. O. C.
Fax: + 886 6 2759602.
Email: matkllin@mail.ncku.edu.tw

Keyword Listing Back to Instructions

A. TYPES OF MATERIAL
alloys
amorphous materials
biomaterials
carbides
ceramics
chalcogenides
composite materials
elastomers
electronic materials
elements
fullerenes
glasses
inorganic compounds
insulators
interfaces
intermetallic compounds
liquid crystals
magnetic materials
metals
microporous materials
monolayers
multilayers
nanostructures
nitrides
non-crystalline materials
optical materials
organic compounds
organometallic compounds
oxides
polymers
quantum wells
quasicrystals
semiconductors
superconductors
surfaces
thin films

B. PREPARATION AND PROCESSING
annealing
arc discharges
chemical beam epitaxy
chemical synthesis
chemical vapour deposition (CVD)
coatings
cold working
compaction
crystal growth
crystallisation
ECR plasma heating
electron beam-assisted deposition
epitaxial growth
etching
evaporation
finite element analysis
glow discharge
heat treatment
hot working
ion beam-assisted deposition
ion implantation
ion plating
laser annealing
lithography
MOCV1
molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)
Monte Carlo method
photoemission
physical vapour deposition (PVD)
plasma-assisted CV1
plasma deposition
powder metallurgy
precipitation
sintering
sol-gel growth
solidification
sputtering
vacuum deposition
vapour deposition
welding

C. TECHNIQUES
ab initio calculations
atomic force microscopy (AFM)
atomic mass spectroscopy
Auger electron spectroscopy (AES)
bend and torsion test
Brillouin scattering
chemical techniques
coherent X-ray scattering
computer interfaces
computer modelling and simulation
computer network
computational techniques
compression and shear
corrosion test
creep
Debye-Scherrer powder method
differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
differential thermal analysis (DTA)
electrochemical techniques
electromechanical techniques
electron diffraction
electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS)
electron microscopy (STEM, TEM and SEM)
electron probe
electron resonance
electrical characterisation (conductivity, eddy current, Hall effect, galvanometry measurements)
electronic characterisation (Ounction potential, deep level transient spectroscopy, capacitance, carrier concentration and lifetime, piezoelectric, electrostrictive, dielectric, pyroelectric measurements)
electropolishing
energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDS or EDAX)
energy spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA)
etching
fatigue
fluorescence X-ray analysis
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
fracture and toughness
grazing incidence X-ray diffraction
hardness
high pressure (shock tubes, diamond anvil cells)
high strain-rate test
impact test
indentation (normal, micro and nano)
inelastic neutron scattering
infrared spectroscopy (IR)
ion beam analysis
ion scattering
laser ionisation spectroscopy
Laue techniques
light scattering
lithography
low energy electron diffraction (LEED)
magnetic X-ray techniques
magnetometer (for magnetic field, susceptibility, magnetic moment, magnetisation measurements)
mechanical testing
molecular dynamics
Monte Carlo simulation
Mossbauer spectroscopy
neutron reflectivity
neutron scattering and diffraction
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR,)
optical desorption spectroscopy
optical metallography
optical microscopy
optical pyrometry
photoelectron spectroscopy
photoluminescence spectroscopy
plasma etching
polarimeters and ellipsometers
positron annihilation spectroscopy
powder diffraction
Raman spectroscopy and scattering
reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED)
Rietzeld analysis
Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS)
scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM)
secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SMS)
small-angle scattering
tension test
thermodilatometry (TD)
thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)
thermo-mechanical analysis (TMA)
tomography
tribology and wear
ultrasonic measurements
ultrasonic techniques
vacuum (pumps, gauges, testing methods)
visible and ultraviolet spectrometers
XAFS (EXAFS and XANES)
X-ray diffraction topography
X-ray holography
X-ray microscopy
X-ray photo-emission spectroscopy (XPS)
X-ray reflectivity
X-ray scattering
X-ray tomography

D-PROPERTIES AND PHENOMENA
abrasion
acoustic properties
adhesion
adsorption
ageing
anelasticity
anharmonicity
band-structure
charge-density waves
chemisorption
colour centres
corrosion
crack
creep
critical phenomena
crystal fields
crystal structure
crystal symmetry
crystallography
defects
deformation
desorption
dielectric properties
diffusion
dislocations
domain structure
ductility
elastic properties
electrical conductivity
electrical properties
electrochemical properties
electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)
electronic structure
embrittlement
equations-of-state
erosion
fatigue
Fermi surface
ferroelasticity
ferroelectricity
field emission
fracture
friction
glass transitions
Hall effect
hardness
heterostructures
hysteresis
irradiation effects
lattice dynamics
luminescence
magnetic properties
magnetic structures
martensitic transformations
mechanical properties
microstructure
Mossbauer effect
muon spin resonance ('1i' USR)
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
nuclear quadruple resonance (NQ)
nucleation
optical properties
oxidation
phase equilibria
phase transitions
phonons
piezoelectricity
radiation damage
recrystallisation
semiconductivity
shape memory effects
specific heat
spin-density waves
stress corrosion cracking
superconductivity
superlattices
surface properties
thermal conductivity
thermal expansion
thermal properties
thermodynamic properties
thermoelasticity
thermoelectric effects
thermomagnetic effects
thermomechanical effects
transport properties
tribology
wear