Preface for the proceeding of ALC'03

The 4th International Symposium on “Atomic Level Characterization for New Materials and Devices (ALC'03)” was held under the auspices of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), a quasi-government organization of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology : the 141st Committee on Microbeam Analysis, from October 5th to the 10th 2003 in Kauai, Hawaii, USA. The 141st Committee, which is one of 57 University-Industry cooperative research committees organized by JSPS, was established in September 1974 to meet the growing demands of microbeam analysis users and scientists for further education, innovation and mutual cooperation among microbeam analysts in industries, public institutes and universities. This committee has several goals: to develop new methodology, technology and microanalysis instrumentation; to promote widely the practical application of these state of the art technologies to industries; and in particular, to encourage the next generation of scientists in the field of microanalysis.

For these reasons, the committee has now three working groups:
Group 1 “Education of Microbeam Analysts for the Next Generation”,
Group 2 “Development of Future Surface Analytical Techniques”,
Group 3 “Promotion of International Exchange”
to promote the international cooperative programme. ALC'03 was organized under the programme of Group 3.

The series of international symposia on Atomic Level Characterization (ALC) was started in 1996, the first being in Kyoto, followed by the second in Maui, Hawaii the following year and the third in Nara in 2001. This ALC series represents one of the most active meetings in Japan, and probably the world, to promote microanalysis and characterization at the nanometer scale, and the size of these symposia has been growing.

Under these situations the 4th International Symposium (ALC'03) was held from October 5th to the 10th in Kauai, the beautiful garden isle in Hawaii. The symposium was aimed at establishing atomic level characterization as the key for nanotechnology, one of the most active research fields in most developed countries these days. The symposium featured significant contributions on the approaches towards atomic level characterization and its applications to many fields in which it will be used, such as material science, mineralogy, geology, biology, as well as art and semiconductor technology.

We thank all the 185 participants and 41 accompanying persons (total 226) from 14 countries and the speakers who made the symposium a great success. 173 papers were presented at the symposium. The invited and contributed papers are published in this issue of the new e-Journal of Surface Science and Nanotecnology, and Surface and Interface Analysis (John Wiley and Sons).

Special thanks go to our committee members, Dr. Shingo Ichimura and Professor Jun Kawai, who did everything to make this publication possible. We also express our sincere gratitude to Professor Ayahiko Ichimiya (Editor in Chief).

December 2003

Takanori Koshikawa

Chairperson of the Organizing Committee, ALC'03

Vice-Chairperson, JSPS 141 Committee

Osaka Electro-Communication University

Yoshikazu Homma

Chairperson of the Publication Committee, ALC'03

NTT Basic Research Laboratories