The current activated pressure assisted densification technique for producing nanocrystalline materials

Abstract

The harnessing of length-scale-dependent material properties has been an area of intense research in the past two decades. Retention of nanocrystalline features in fully dense bulk materials has been particularly elusive. Recently the current activated pressure assisted densification (CAPAD) technique has emerged as one of the most successful methods for the production of functional and structural nanocrystalline materials with large sizes. In this article we review some ongoing efforts in using the CAPAD technique for producing single component and nanocomposite systems from nanocrystalline powders. The properties of these nanocrystalline materials include improved light transmittance and magnetic properties caused by interfacial coupling ofanti-ferromagnetic/ferrimagnetic phases.