1000 at 1000: The effect of electric field and pressure on the synthesis and consolidation of materials: a review of the spark plasma sintering method

Abstract

This Editorial is part of the celebration of a milestone for the Journal: the publication of its 1000th issue. The celebration also highlights published papers that received 1000 or more citations, hence ‘‘1000 at 1000.’’ Our review article on the SPS process was such a paper [1]. While it is generally the case that review articles such as ours receive higher citations than regular papers, the nature of the field and its rate of development also play important roles. The high citations of our article are, I believe, reflections of the high interest and widespread research activity in this field worldwide. On a personal note, my involvement in SPS research was an outcome of work I did back in the 1970s on electric field effects on various materials processes. I started by looking at the effect of an electric field on the sublimation of ionic single crystals, because such crystals have a surface charge. We looked not only at effects on sublimation rates, but also on changes in evaporation surface ledge dynamics and morphology. At the time the research seems rather esoteric, ‘‘what practical benefit does the evaporation of sodium chloride have?’’, a well-meaning colleague once asked. Fortunately, the funding agency, NSF, saw our research in a different light and provided a major encouragement by awarding me the Creativity in Research Award, twice. The work continued, examining field effects on growth and orientation of crystals and on the formation, mobility, and distribution of crystalline defects. In the 1980s a new area of research, self-propagating high-temperature synthesis, SHS, became the focus of widespread investigations in the USA and elsewhere. It started earlier in the former Soviet Union as an outcome of research on rocket fuels.