Introduction

Abstract

Microstructures of materials refer to a set of basic elements such as the arrangement of atoms or molecules, dislocations, grains, particles, surfaces, boundaries, etc. These basic elements may be made to appear in their basic morphologies using techniques such as light, ultrasonic, electron, atomic force, X-ray, electron and neutron diffraction and others. Some specific instruments can be used to display some fields associated with properties of the materials. For example, a magnetic force microscope (MFM) is able to display the magnetic microstructures of a material. In the modern approach, more and more micro-scale basic elements of microstructures can be imaged properly as a means to study the properties of materials. Qualitative observations from images can no longer satisfy the requirements for the development of materials science and engineering. Quantitative descriptions of the basic elements therefore become more and more interesting.