Preface to Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Nanoscale Spectroscopy and Nanotechnology (NSS6)

This collection of papers in e-Journal of Surface Science and Nanotechnology contains the proceedings of The 6th International Workshop on Nanoscale Spectroscopy and Nanotechnology (NSS6) held at Centennial Hall (Rokko Hall), Kobe University, from October 25 to 29, 2010. This workshop provided a forum for the exchange of information about the latest international scientific and technological developments in the rapidly growing fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology, which include the following topics: various kinds of nanoscale spectroscopies; electronic, optical, magnetic, mechanical, and transport properties of nanoscale systems; nanoscale devices; and nanomanipulation.

The 1st and 2nd NSS Workshops were respectively held at Trieste, Italy (NSS1, 2000) and Tokyo, Japan (NSS2, 2002). Both these workshops were joint initiatives between the Italian National Research Council and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Subsequent NSS Workshops were held in Washington, D.C., USA (NSS3, 2004), Rathen, Germany (NSS4, 2006), and Ohio, USA (NSS5, 2008).

NSS6 was co-organized by JASRI/SPring-8, RIKEN, and Kobe University, and it received support from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Over 140 scientists from 13 countries in Europe, America, and Asia participated. This is more than twice the number of participants in the 1st NSS Workshop held 10 years ago. In addition, more than 20 commercial vendors exhibited.

The scientific program extended over four days with 125 oral and poster presentations, including a plenary lecture by Prof. Iijima, 24 invited papers, and five papers by student-award winners. The main subject was spectroscopy and microscopy of nanoscale materials and phenomena. The techniques were widely spread in the domains of energy, space, and time. There were more presentations on nanofabrication than in previous workshops.

The Guest Editors of this collection of proceedings papers are K. Ono, Y. Kobayashi, and T. Yasue (Chair of the Publication Committee of NSS6).

Yoshio Watanabe

Chair of the Organizing Committee of NSS6

JASRI/SPring-8, JST-ERATO, Keio Univ.