Role of high-throughput characterization tools in combinatorial materials science

The process of combinatorial materials development couples parallel production of large arrays of compositionally varying samples together with measurements of their properties. The diverse spectrum of functionalities in materials represents a significant challenge in high-throughput characterization, often involving development of novel measurement instrumentation. Among the publications in the field, the number of publications related to measurement techniques and instrumentation in combinatorial materials science was the second largest category (34%) after materials synthesis (37%). This statistic underscores the critical role characterization tools play in combinatorial materials science.