ETH Alumni event with Prof. Spolenak on Colors in Thin Materials

(swissnex Boston, November 21, 2013)

A select group of 35 guests joined us for a talk by Prof. Ralph Spolenak on colors in thin materials. The event was hosted by the ETH Alumni New England Chapter in collaboration with swissnex Boston. Mr. Spolenak is Professor for Nanometallurgy at ETH Zurich, and is currently serving as the director for the Materials Research Center of ETH Zurich. His presentation investigated how the microstructure, the architecture and the chemistry of a thin film material influences its interaction with visible light. He presented applications in the biomedical field, microelectronics and jewelry, and illustrated how light absorbing and reflecting properties of engineered materials can be utilized to achieve certain hues of color. Prof. Spolenak also addressed application-driven properties of coatings on the nanoscale, which range from fracture strength over wear resistance, to electrochemical stability.