Materials science is an interdisciplinary field concerned with understanding the relationships between the structure of materials and their properties and using this knowledge to design materials for specific applications. The internal structure of a material—from atomic arrangements to microscopic features—strongly influences its mechanical, electrical, thermal, and optical behavior. In engineering practice, materials science and engineering are often described through the processing–structure–properties–performance paradigm, in which processing determines structure, structure determines properties, and properties ultimately control the performance of a material in service.