Directory profile for Dr. Klaus van Benthem

Klaus van Benthem’s expertise is in the field of materials defects and interface sciences, including grain boundaries ceramic microstructures and metal/ceramic interface. He carries out a diverse range of research projects to achieve a fundamental mechanistic understanding of materials phenomena in extreme environments that are commonly rooted in their microstructure. He uses a variety of (aberration-corrected) electron microscopy and related tools to characterize atomic scale defect structures and their evolution under externally applied stress fields.

His research group is known for rigorous, detail-oriented, and quantitative analyses of experimental data in close collaboration with theory. In addition to his world renown expertise in microstructure characterization, his research groups is also gaining strength in ceramic processing, including diffusion bonding and field-assisted sintering/annealing. Research projects include electric field-induced modifications of grain boundaries and grain growth behavior, wetting-dewetting transitions at metal/ceramic interfaces, and the design of electrolytic etch-stop mechanisms at semiconductor interfaces.