Introduction

Self-assembly is a process in which a disordered system of components forms an organized structure or pattern as a consequence of specific, short- and/or long-range interactions among the components themselves. The driving force for self-assembly can be biological, chemical, mechanical, or physical in nature. Self-assembly can occur in all length scales and is a highly promising bottom-up approach to fabricate functional nanoscale to submicrometer materials and devices. Directed assembly can be broadly defined as ordering in the presence of some guidance from a top-down viewpoint such as an external force. Both self-assembly- and directed assembly-based processes offer intriguing possibilities to fabricate devices and systems that are not possible with traditional top-down approaches. Moreover, they provide the potential of finding very interesting and important fundamental new physical phenomena in such ordered materials; for example, in self-assembled three-dimensional (3D) nanocomposites of electromagnetically or electro-optically active materials. Theory, computational modeling, and simulation of self-assembly and directed processes are important to better understand the processes that govern the ordering. In this focus issue of theJournal of Materials Research, a group of papers related to the latest developments in self-assembly and directed assembly of advanced materials are presented. Papers span from a focus on materials synthesis, processing, and characterization, to computational modeling and theoretical understanding of the ordering process.