The kinetic pathways of materials during synthesis ultimately determine their properties and performance. Due to the advent of in situ experimental probes — from dynamic TEM to high energy diffraction microscopy to 4D X-ray tomography — researchers now have the unique opportunity to uncover the fundamental mechanisms that govern the motion of interfaces under various external stimuli. These include thermal gradients, magnetic fields, and electric currents. To this end, in situ studies typically require complex sample environments and also the algorithms and hardware for processing the multidimensional datasets obtained. The results can be used to validate theories of crystallization and self-assembly; they can also serve as input for multi-scale simulations, which can then be compared with the corresponding experiments.

The focus of this symposium is to bring together experts in technique development and applications to assess the current state-of-the-art in probing the synthesis of materials over a broad range of length and time scales. Topics will include laboratory-scale and synchrotron‑based studies of particle nucleation; dendrite growth and other phase transformations; defect formation and propagation; grain growth; nanowire assembly; and spinodal decomposition. The application space of the as‑synthesized structures will cover electromagnetic metamaterials to additively manufactured lightweight components. Particular emphasis will be given to studies that integrate multiple in situ experimental techniques and/or link the in situ experiments with simulations and theories, in an effort to achieve a unified description of the interfacial dynamics underlying materials synthesis.

crystal growth defects kinetics nucleation & growth phase transformation self-assembly texture transmission electron microscopy (TEM) x-ray diffraction (XRD) x-ray tomography