Materials informatics

Seeking structure-property relationships is an accepted paradigm in materials science, yet these relationships are often not linear, and the challenge is to seek patterns among multiple lengthscales and timescales. There is rarely a single multiscale theory or experiment that can meaningfully and accurately capture such information. In this article, we outline a process termed ‘materials informatics’ that allows one to survey complex, multiscale information in a high-throughput, statistically robust, and yet physically meaningful manner. The application of such an approach is shown to have significant impact in materials design and discovery.