Conference Details
The conference focused on the most recent advances in the study of the structural and electronic properties of semiconducting materials by the application of transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The latest developments in the use of other important microcharacterisation techniques including scanning probe microscopy and X-ray topography and diffraction were also featured. Developments in materials science and technology covering the complete range of elemental and compound semiconductors was described.
The main topic areas covered were as follows:
*The characterisation of as-grown semiconductors in both bulk and thin film forms.
*The study of nanostructures of all types from quantum dots, wires, etc to nanotubes.
*The investigation of lattice defect and impurity behaviour in semiconducting materials.
*The study of the effects of semiconductor processing treatments: oxidation, nitridation, ion implantation, annealing, silicidation, etc.
*The assessment of finished electronic devices, including studies of the influence of structural defects upon their behaviour and important new design features such as high/low-k dielectrics, etc.
*Developments in the use of high resolution imaging and analytical transmission electron microscopy
*The exploitation of advanced scanning techniques: SEM-EBIC, SEM-CL, etc; STM, AFM, SCM, etc.
Conference Report
Planning was well under way for the 16th conference in the popular “MSM” series when the global financial markets collapsed, causing the organisersto wonder if anyone could still afford to come to Oxford in March for the meeting.It was going to be held in Oxford, this time in Keble College’s brand new Conference Facility. At previous MSM meetings delegates were used to the college accommodation, but had to walk to another department for the lectures and poster sessions. This time we would be entirely self-contained within the college, helping to preserve the family atmosphere. In the end our credit-crunch concerns were unfounded and we comfortably reached our target of 140 attendees. It was good to see many old colleagues and friends again, and also good to see many new faces as well; the good proportion of younger microscopists should ensure the continuing success of these meetings. The international character of MSM was once again evident, with delegates from over a dozen countries, including Japan, Australia and, for the first time, the Arab Emirates.
We were welcomed on the opening morning by Sir Peter Hirsch, who noted the good turn-out and indicated some of the exciting presentations appearing in the very full programme. Over 60 oral presentations, including 14 Invited talks, made for long days, with the oral sessions running from before 9 o’clock in the morning through to after 6 in the evening.
Poster sessions took place in the airy and well-lit room above the lecture theatre and gave everyone a good opportunity to see and discuss people’s work in an informal manner.
The conference covered virtually all of semiconductor-related microscopy, with sessions devoted to specific classes of material as well as techniques for studying them. It is clear that “nano” is growing in importance, with around 20 papers and posters describing nanowires of various kinds.
On the instrumentation front, Christian Kisielowski presented some of the startling sub-Ångstrom data being generated in the TEAM Project, and David Bell gave an insight into what we might expect from the newly-developed He ion microscope, which uses a scanned beam of He ions to generate SEM-type contrast with very high resolution, as well as a range of other signals.
An evening round-table discussion devoted to Clustering in InGaN materials proved a popular after-dinner event for many delegates, with a very lively debate covering several conflicting points-of-view.
It is customary to include one of the RMS’s main Annual Lectures during this meeting, and we were delighted to welcome Professor John Silcox from Cornell University, who gave a fascinating overview of some of the exciting developments in the very latest EM instrumentation, and threw out a challenge to materials scientists to plan experiments that will not only exploit the capabilities of these expensive instruments (the relatively easy part), but provide useful new information (the hard part!). With the proliferation of wonderful new microscopes offering previously un-dreamt-of capabilities, this is a challenge we will all do well to heed.
What about the venue? Keble’s new Conference Facility worked well and everyone appreciated the efficiency of the staff and the closeness of the accommodation and dining hall, where the highlight was the excellent conference Banquet, with the delegates enjoying the traditional after-dinner entertainment, including a very clever magician!
The next conference in the series, MSM XVII, will be in Cambridge in 2011, and we look forward to seeing many of you there.
John Hutchison Department of Materials, Oxford University, UK
