defectassisted

Defectassisted is a term used to describe strategies that exploit defects—structural irregularities, vacancies, interstitials, or deliberately introduced dopants—to enable or enhance material functionality, chemical reactivity, or device performance. It focuses on designing defect landscapes to control properties rather than aiming for defect-free materials.

Defects can create localized electronic states, segregate molecules, modify diffusion barriers, act as catalytic active sites, seed nucleation, or trap energy carriers to influence recombination. Defect engineering can be achieved through processing steps, irradiation, doping, or post-treatment. Quality control is important, as too many defects can degrade mechanical integrity or reliability.

In materials science, defect-assisted diffusion can influence sintering and grain growth. In catalysis, oxygen vacancies on metal oxides often serve as active sites. In semiconductors, defect-assisted dopant activation or defect-mediated carrier transport can modify conductivity. In energy storage, defects can facilitate ion intercalation and storage capacity. In photonics, defect states such as color centers enable applications like single-photon emission. In biology or sensing, defects at interfaces or membranes can alter binding interactions and selectivity.

The term is used descriptively rather than prescriptively, and studies typically emphasize balancing beneficial versus detrimental effects and ensuring reproducibility. It is commonly contrasted with approaches that aim to minimize, control, or eliminate defects through defect-free manufacturing or defect-avoidance strategies.