The materials design space is huge, encompassing not just equilibrium structures but a vast panoply of metastable non-equilibrium structures, especially as regards nanometer-scale systems with at least partial molecular character. This design space has a mixed nature, with discrete compositions and symmetries but continuous structural parameters. We will consider three means of approaching this challenge: first, a retreat into the continuum for photonic crystals; second, a retreat into the discretium [sic] for artificial magnetic island lattices; third, the role of information theory in exploring the manifold of metastable material states, and finally, the sustaining role of intuition-based design that exploits the full available complexity of the material world.
Copyright. All Rights Reserved.