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Divisions
Several new divisions were
formed during this era as the technology developed. Some of these
evolved from Technical Groups, the formation of which had been
authorized by the Board in 1995; the Groups are discussed in the
following section.
In February 1992, the Nanometer Science and Technology Division was formed, largely through the advocacy of
Richard Colton, Lawrence
Kazmerski, and James Murday, with the objective of providing a forum for
the expanding technical interest in this area. In 1999, NSTD was the
first division to use electronic balloting for their annual election. In
1999, B Jonker asked the Board to approve a change in the MIN Technical
Group to the Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures Division
(MIND),
on the basis of strong Symposium programs since 1995; this was approved
by the Board but the new Division required modification of the AVS
Constitution, which was approved in the 2000 ballot. By 2001, the
Biomaterial Interfaces Technical Group had 270 members and an
established Symposium program and requested a change to Division status.
This was approved by the Board in 2002 but it also required a change in
the AVS Constitution, which was approved by the membership in 2002.
In 1992, the Board asked each Division to review both its objectives and
its topical areas, and to project whether it would grow or decrease in
membership and activity. Each Division made a presentation to the Board.
Particular attention was paid to the Thin Film (TFD) and
Vacuum
Metallurgy (VMD) Divisions, which seemed to have overlapping interests,
which could be satisfied by combining into a single division. Already in
1990 the VMD’s International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings (ICMC)
was held in conjunction with the International Conference on Thin Films
and had been preceded by a TFD topical conference. In the following
year, the scope of ICMC was broadened to include thin film technology
within the overall meeting, and this combination worked so well that, in
1992, at Bruce Sartwell’s urging, the ICMC changed its name to the
International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films (ICMC-TF)
in 1991. The AVS Thin Film Division was a co-sponsor of these
meetings. The conference continues to do very well, and it is the
second largest annual meeting within the AVS, with only the annual
Symposium being larger. However, the two divisions decided to remain
separate.
As surface engineering became more and more important to the ICMC-TF,
while the interest in vacuum melting decreased, it was recognized that
the name of the VMD did not reflect its main activities. Surface
engineering was its main thrust, and Bill Sproul lead an effort to
change the name of the Division. In 1999, the two interest groups in the VMD
agreed to separate, with the metallurgical coaters remaining in
the re-named division of Advanced Surface Engineering (ASED).
The melters changed their format for their meeting to emphasize computer
modeling of the melting process, and they now hold a biannual meeting on
this subject. The by-laws of the new ASED were approved in 2000 but the
“addition” of a “new” division required a change in the AVS
Constitution, which did not occur till the annual ballot in 2000. These
new ASED by-laws were the first to specifically allow for electronic
balloting. The same format was followed in updating the by-laws of the
other Divisions in 2001 and 2002 so that the division by-laws are again
fairly uniform across all the divisions.
Several division awards
were initiated during this period. Initially, Divisions provided travel
support for students to present papers at the Symposium but this ceased
when the Dorothy M. & Earl S. Hoffman Travel Grants started in 1999.
Some divisions then initiated technical recognition awards. In 2000,
PSTD requested funds from AVS to endow their division technical
recognition award, which had a $1000 value, but the Board directed that
it should be paid from division funds. The Board approved a protocol
for Division awards which was incorporated in the Division by-laws when
they were updated.
The Advanced Surface
Engineering Division gives an award for the best student paper as judged
by the oral presentation and the manuscript submitted for publication in
JVST. The Applied Surface Science Division offers awards for the best
student poster papers at the symposium. The Electronic Materials and
Processing Division gives awards to postdoctoral fellows who present
papers at the symposium. The Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures
Division awards the Leo M Falicov Student Award to a graduate student
presenting an oral paper at the Symposium. The Surface Science Division
presents the Morton M. Traum Surface Science Student Award for the best
student paper. The Nanoscale Science and Technology Division makes an
award for the best student paper and also established a new
“Nanotechnology Recognition Award” for scientists in 2000. The Plasma
Science and Technology Division offers the Plasma Prize to scientists
and the John Coburn and Harold Winters Award for the best oral paper at
the Symposium. The Thin Film Division makes two awards for the best
student papers and the Vacuum Technology Division makes an award for the
best paper by a student or postdoctoral fellow.
Technical Groups
The LRPC proposed the
formation of Technical Groups as a means of accommodating new activities without the formation of a
division; Groups would have more flexibility and serve a smaller,
evolving interest which might later grow into a division or be absorbed
by one. The origins of both Technical Groups in general and of the
Manufacturing Science and Technology Technical Group
(MSTG) in particular, was detailed by Gary Rubloff.
“The 1980’s witnessed
growing concern about the competitiveness of U.S. industry, particularly
with respect to Japan and its effectiveness in manufacturing. While the
U.S. research enterprise remained the world leader, connectivity between
fundamental research and industrial applications was somehow inadequate
to deliver competitive advantage. Furthermore, the U.S. R&D community
had little if any focus on the challenges of manufacturing, and much
less interest in identifying and pursuing the important research issues
to be found in manufacturing. The criticality of research connectivity
and manufacturing were emphasized in a number of national studies,
leading for example to the NSF’s Engineering Research Center program and
to increasing discussion of these problems. These concerns were perhaps
nowhere greater than in the semiconductor industry, where Japanese
technology had scored huge advances, manufacturing enjoyed major
attention and respect, and the economy reflected serious global
competition.”
In 1992 Rubloff and
Michael Liehr volunteered to organize a topical conference “A Key to
Competitiveness: The Science and Technology of Manufacturing" at the
National Symposium. The AVS welcomed the idea, and what would become the
MSTG was born. The primary themes of the conference, and later of the
MSTG, were equipment design, process integration and yield,
contamination and defects, and sensors and process control. The
conference was aimed particularly at industry researchers and
practitioners, and it achieved significant industry participation. A
primer on “Concepts in Competitive Microelectronics Manufacturing ”was
also published [JVST B12 (4), 2727-2740, (1994)]. The AVS leadership was
strongly supportive of a long-term commitment to Manufacturing Science
and Technology, though cognizant of the precedent and risk involved.
Significant discussion occurred, both informally and in the Board, about
the formation of a new AVS Division. The enthusiasm was not only for
manufacturing, but for a flexible mechanism by which AVS could capture
and lead in professional discussions on critical new research issues.
The Technical Director, Rey Whetten, developed the idea of a Technical
Group, reporting to the AVS Board in parallel to the Divisions. The
Technical Group would be more flexible than a Division. The Board
approved the establishment of the MSTG in 1994, with Gary Rubloff as
Chair.
By-laws for these new
Technical Groups were approved in 1995 but the AVS Constitution was not
amended to include them until 1999. The AVS President appoints a Group
chair when the Group is formed and, in subsequent years, the Group’s
executive committee appoints the chair. Although not included in the
By-laws, the Board had required that a Group be reviewed after three
years to decide whether there was sufficient interest to become a
division. Otherwise, it could be dissolved, either due to lack of
interest or by absorption into an existing division, or continue for
another three years until the next review.
The Biomaterials
Interfaces Technical Group (BITG) was approved at the end of 1995, an
action which was endorsed by the Biomaterials Society! In 1999, Jay
Hickman reviewed the group’s accomplishments,
which included a sustained program over four years with 120 abstracts
submitted for the Symposium in 1999, and a plenary session with three
speakers, one of whom was a Nobel Prize winner. The group was approved
for another three years and, in 2002, evolved into the
Biomaterials
Interfaces Division.
The
Electrochemistry &
Fluid/Solid Interfaces Technical Group
was also formed in 1995 but was fairly inactive. Eric Stuve undertook in
2001 to revive its activities. Although a program meeting was held
during the 2001 Symposium, there was no further action and the Group
was dissolved at the end of 2002; it did not apply for renewal.
In 1996, the Board
approved the formation of the Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures
Technical Group, with Barry Jonker as chair, and this evolved into the
MIN Division (MIND) in 2000.
The MINTG awarded the Leo M. Falicov Best Student Paper Award for the
first time in 1999. Falicov helped to define
the theoretical foundations of the field of surface magnetism, and is
widely recognized for his substantial contributions to magnetism and
other fields of solid state physics.
In 1999, L. Miller
requested, and the Board approved, the formation of a new
Science of
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems Technology Technical Group (MEMSTG)
on the basis that they had held a topical conference at the Symposium
for four years. The By-laws were
approved in December, 1999 and the Group began officially in 2000.
Some of the Technical
Groups also gave awards. The Biomaterials Interfaces TG gave three
awards to the best student poster papers each year. The Manufacturing
Science and Technology TG presents awards for the best papers by a
postdoctoral fellow, and by students.
Chapters
During this era, the
activity level of many of the Chapters
declined badly and some chapters were dissolved.
In 1996, it was
proposed that the Central Indiana Chapter,
which had then only 34 members compared with at least 100 required to
sustain a chapter, merge with the Illinois Chapter. All the Chapter
members responding to a poll were in favor. Although only 90% of the
Illinois respondents were in favor, merging of the two into a single
Prairie Chapter took place in 1997. The Wisconsin Chapter had been inactive at the end of
the previous Era. After Caroline Aita had failed in her effort to revive
it in 1995, it was then suggested that the Chapter be dissolved. This
was finalized in 2000; members in the south-east (zips 530-539,
541-543, 549) joined the Prairie Chapter, which had been formed from the
Illinois Chapter in 1997, and the rest (zips 540, 544-548) joined the
Minnesota Chapter.
The
Greater New York
Chapter
had not held elections or meetings since 1993. The last
treasurer, R Robinson, was located and the remaining Chapter funds were
transferred to the AVS. The members in the area of the Chapter were
notified in 2000 that the Chapter would be dissolved if no volunteers
came forward to form an executive. Although some members stated that
they wished to revive the Chapter, there was no further action. In 2002,
a ballot of the Upstate New York Chapter members indicated that this
chapter should absorb members in the northern Hudson Valley but not in
New York City and New Jersey, because they were too far away. The
Greater New York Chapter was dissolved at the end of 2002. The members
in New Jersey might have been absorbed by the Delaware Valley Chapter
but it was also inactive and, in 2001, had transferred its funds to
AVS.
As a result of these
dissolutions, the LRPC recommended that the AVS Treasurer should have
signatory authority for all chapter accounts in case the chapter members
with signing authority cannot be located when a chapter becomes
inactive.
However, many of the
chapters have adapted to the changing circumstances and continue to hold
annual meetings, and others have been revived. In 1999, J. Grace
described how the activities of the Upstate New York Chapter
had declined in the 1990’s due to a decrease in industry in the area. A
phone survey in 1995 had indicated that members were willing to drive up
to two hours to attend a meeting, if the topic was relevant to their
jobs. The chapter has since aimed to satisfy this requirement and has
cooperated locally with other societies, including MRS, ACS and IEEE, to
provide networking and social contacts, with primary consideration to
vendors. The results have been positive and the Chapter has been active
in the past few years.
In 1995, the Pinellas
Plant of the Department of Energy closed and many of the key leaders of
the Florida Chapter based
in the Tampa Bay area retired, changed employers or moved to other
locations. However, new leaders at the University of Florida and Bell
Labs/Lucent Technologies took over. The 24th Florida Chapter
Symposium, in 1996, was held in Orlando, instead of the Tampa area, and
has been held there since then. The 25th Symposium of the
Florida Chapter was held at the Sheraton World Resort in Orlando,
Florida, in February, 1997. Subsequent symposia have been held at the
University of Central Florida, in Orlando, during the spring university
vacation. The Florida Chapter and the Florida Society for Microscopy
have co- sponsored the meeting since 1998. The format remains a two day
meeting and a highlight is the Student Poster Paper session, which
averaged 42 papers over the last three years. The topics for the other
sessions have been expanded to include Microscopy, Focused Ion Beams,
Optical Materials, Nanotechnology, and Biomaterials to accommodate
changes in the technology interests. Tremendous support by vendors and
the Short Course program has continued; since 1999, no registration fee
has been charged for attending the Symposium.
In 1994, the
Pacific
Northwest Chapter revived its
annual meeting after a hiatus since 1988. Successful symposia, with
technical sessions, vendor exhibit and short course programs, have been
held annually in the Portland area since then. These have been held at
facilities with microbreweries and Bill Rogers has mounted a Texas
barbecue during the meeting; both may have a part to play in the
success! Members in several states are not members of a chapter because
of the geographical location. In 1999, Alaska was assigned to the
Pacific Northwest Chapter and Hawaii to the Northern California Chapter,
which still left members in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa without
a chapter association.
In 1996, the
Southern
California Chapter asked the
Board for a loan of $25,000 to revitalize its operations after its 1994
and 1995 symposium had been poorly attended and, as a result, its
reserve was too low to fund arrangements for another symposium. The
request was granted and the 1996 symposium was a success with 300
attendees and 80 exhibitors. The chapter has continued to hold an annual
symposium. The chapter also has an Elmer Carvey Scholarship Fund and
makes awards to graduate students.
The
New Mexico Chapter has maintained
a vigorous program over the years. In 1991, the chapter ran a Science
Teachers Workshop with the demonstration kit they purchased through the
Education Committee after the first Science Educators Workshop in 1990.
The chapter also provides an important educational process by donating
and repairing equipment for schools. To minimize the risk of liability
suits against the chapter and AVS, all equipment donation programs must
be approved by the Board and that the receiver of equipment must sign a
release form.
In 1998, the
Northern
California Chapter hosted an
honorary dinner for Bill and Virginia Brunner to recognize the
exceptional role which they had played in the chapter activities. Bill
was a pioneer in the short course program and Virginia was in charge of
the business office for many years. Bill was presented with a plaque
which read “in recognition of the contributions as a founding member of
the American Vacuum Society’s Short Course program and teaching from
1970 to 1997.” Bob Willis presented a plaque which read “With
Gratitude and Recognition for Exceptional Service in Education,
Organization, and Management. Our Chapter owes much of its success to
both of you.”
As volunteers found
less of their time available to organize chapter activities, the New
York office assisted chapters to conduct elections, organize topical
conferences, design and mail flyers, and contract with hotels. As a
result, mailing costs for the office doubled in 1995 as more of the
chapters’ mailing was done from there. The internet revolution has since
helped the chapters to improve communications and decrease the cost of
keeping in touch with members; the New Mexico Chapter’s web site was
operational in 1995 and, by 1999, 80% of the active chapters had web
sites. An updated version of the Chapters and Divisions manual by Larry
Kazmerski was reviewed at a Town Hall meeting Florida in 1998. This was
the first update since 1988!
All chapters were asked
to update their by-laws by the end of 2002 to reflect changes in
operation over the years, such as the use of electronic balloting
processes. The Upstate New York Chapter and Minnesota Chapters were the
first to do so, in 2002.
In 1995, the LRPC
proposed the formation of overseas chapters because over 10% of AVS
members lived outside the US and Canada, and the percentage was
increasing. This was only eight years after the Board had resolved that
it would not recognize a chapter outside North America. In 1999, Steve
Rossnagel made a case in the May/June 1999 issue of the
Newsletter for the formation of “international chapters”, as a
means of serving the increasing number of members in other countries.
However, many of these members are in countries, such as Japan and
Germany, which have their own vacuum societies.
The possibility of
student chapters was raised in 1991 by the then newly formed Student
Affairs Committee and was strongly supported by Paul Holloway. However,
it was not until 2001 that a firm proposal to form student chapters was
submitted to the Board. The objective was to have twenty of these
chapters operating within three years and to stimulate the student
members to become AVS members after graduation. Since it was decided
that these chapters should report directly to the Board rather than
being formed as special committees of existing chapters, a change in AVS
by-laws was required. In 2002, Student Chapters were included in the
Constitution and By-laws and the existing chapters were officially
renamed Regional Chapters in the By-laws to distinguish them from
Student Chapters. Uniform Student Chapter By-laws were approved by the
Board in December, 2002 and the first Student Chapter was formed at the
University of Florida after an organizational meeting late in 2002. The
chapters are formed by students at universities with sufficient numbers
of graduate students involved in research in relevant topics. Each
chapter has a university member as an advisor to the executive
committee, but the advisor does not have a vote. The Chapters, Groups
and Divisions Committee developed a very descriptive booklet and manual
to assist students to form and operate a Student Chapter.
Interactions
Government Interactions
This era has been relatively free of confrontations with the government
but there was one “explosive” incident involving a former President,
Paul Holloway, who was returning from a conference in Scotland via
Amsterdam. All went well until he reached his final destination of
Orlando, Florida. There he was met by his wife and found that his
suitcase had been damaged. While complaining at the Northwest Airlines
baggage counter, he opened the suitcase and found what “looked like two
giant bars of ivory soap” which he had not packed! These turned out to
be C-4 plastic explosives, the same material which had been used to
destroy Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland in 1988! The police were called
and eventually Paul was cleared and allowed to go home. The C-4 had been
placed in his case by the police in Amsterdam to test the security
system, but they forgot to remove it! The Dutch Ministry of Justice
later demanded an enquiry and the airport police in Amsterdam apologized
profusely. Imagine if this had happened after September 11, 2001! The
incident was described in the Mar/Apr 1991 issue of the
Newsletter.
In 1991, Dorothy
Hoffman wrote a F.Y.I. column in the Newsletter. A recurring theme was
the underfunding of science by the US government and this became an
increasingly emphasized topic during this era. In a Newsletter article
in 1997 [May/June 1997], Jim Murday, who was the AVS representative to
the Federation of Materials Societies (FMS), discussed the science
budgeting process and the importance of visits to Congress. The recent
AVS presidents have taken part in the Congressional Visit Days,
organized by the Coalition for Technology Partners, and were impressed
by the reception they received on Capitol Hill. In the Summer 2002 issue
of the Newsletter, Rudy Ludeke described what happened during a
Congressional visit day. Funding of a Congressional Fellow was proposed
in 2001 but the high cost was a deterrent. AVS had contributed a small
amount to support an AIP Congressional Fellow in 1993. The concern with
US policies and budgets is an important concern for members in the USA
but seems somewhat at odds with the increasing “internationalization” of
the society.
In 1998, an AVS offer
to organize a DARPA Workshop on “Functionality on Si” was accepted and
Paul Holloway chaired the meeting which was held in 1999.
Interactions with
Societies
AVS is a member of AIP
and pays annual dues for each AVS member. In 1993, these dues increased
from $3 to $4, and are now automatically increased as the member society
dues increase; they are currently about $4.60, which is a very low price
to pay for Physics Today!
AVS became an official
member of the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives
(CESSE) in 1994. In 1996, a CESSE report compared AVS with twenty-five
other member societies, including the IEEE and OSA. AVS was ranked first
for member satisfaction among the small (less than 12,500 members)
societies; this category dealt mainly with membership and symposium
registration costs, and use of new technology, such as the internet.
However, AVS was rated low in “enhancement of the profession” and
involvement in public policy. Of course, AVS had chosen to rely upon AIP
activities in public policy. However, in 1994, Dorothy Hoffman stated
that the AIP Committee on Public Policy had produced no discernible
result in nine years of operation!
In 1995, The Board
approved a trial membership in the Federation of Materials Societies and
AVS became a member in 1997. One of the FMS objectives was to lobby
Congress to fund more research and, in 2001, they established the
Alliance for Science & Technology Research in America (ASTRA), as an
advocate for increased funding. In 2002, Paula Grunthaner was appointed
an FMS Trustee.
In 1999, AVS undertook
to administer the Shoulders-Gray-Spindt Award for the International
Vacuum Microelectronics Conference. Of course, AVS has administered the
IUVSTA Medard W Welch Scholarship for more than twenty years.
In 2001, M. Green, the
Past President of MRS, presented to the AVS Board a review of MRS with a
view to some joint programs in the future, such as co-sponsorship of
meetings and courses, and joint university chapters. MRS was founded in
1973 and has a similar annual budget as AVS but with a much larger
staff. A large fraction of its membership is transient and job
dependant, similar to a large part of the AVS membership.
International
Interactions
AVS has continued to be strongly involved in IUVSTA and during this
period hosted the 15th International Vacuum Congress in
conjunction with the 48th AVS Symposium in San Francisco in
2001. The AVS bid to IUVSTA in 1994 to host IVC-15 included a guaranteed
payment of $40,000 to IUVSTA. Of course, attendance at the congress was
greatly reduced by the aftermath of the destruction of the World Trade
Center in New York just a few weeks before the Congress and this
resulted in a substantial loss. However, AVS honored the commitment and
made payments to IUVSTA in 2002 and 2003. AVS members continued to play
significant roles in IUVSTA.
Ted Madey served as President for the 1992-95 triennium, Bill Westwood
was Secretary General for 1998-2004, and Bill Rogers was Scientific
Secretary for 2001-2004. In 1998, the AVS server became the host for the
IUVSTA web site and Keith Mitchell implemented the web site under the
guidance of Lars Westerberg, the Chair of the IUVSTA Publications
Committee. This placed an extra load on the office but was very
convenient for the Secretary General and, later, for John Grant, who
took over as the IUVSTA Publications Committee Chair in 2001. However,
the load on the AVS office continued to increase and the web site was
transferred to the French Vacuum Society at the end of 2002.
In
1991, the AVS co-sponsored with the Chinese Vacuum Society an
International Symposium on “Vacuum Science, Thin Films and Surface
Science”, which was held in Beijing. Four AVS members volunteered as
speakers and reported favorably on the meeting which had 184 attendees,
ten of whom were from Taiwan! 1996, Marion Churchill visited Beijing,
at CVS expense, to assist in plans for the NANO IV conference to be held
there later that year.
However, the main
interactions continued to be with the Brazilian and Mexican Vacuum
Societies. AVS funded travel for speakers and course instructors at
their meetings. Joe Greene attended the BVS meeting in 1991 and was
impressed by the development in the ten years since his previous visit.
In 1992, Dave Hoffman was the AVS representative at the BVS meeting in
Campinas but Bill Westwood also attended as a guest of the BVS; both
gave talks and a course. Bill Westwood commented that it was a different
teaching experience; people kept arriving and leaving throughout the
course so that probably twenty people attended some part of the
course although there were never more than half of them present at one
time! Gary McGuire gave a talk and a course in Petropolis in 1999; there
were 130 attendees at the symposium and 15 took the course; the BVS also
taught their version of the Basic Vacuum technology course.
The MVS preferred that
AVS funded speakers for their symposium rather than provide fee waivers
for their members to attend the AVS Symposium but they were happy when
both were provided in 1992! In 1993, there were six MVS representatives
at the Symposium in Orlando. In 1995, it was decided that there should
be no fee waivers in future because the same MVS representatives
appeared at the Symposium every year!
In 2000, three AVS
members were funded to give talks at the Israel Vacuum Society meeting.
This was a significant departure from previous policy where support was
restricted to the American continent; the President felt that it would
raise the international presence of AVS. The Foreign Interactions
Committee offered two fee waivers plus $500 travel to any foreign
authors at the Symposium who would not otherwise be able to attend. The
one and only application for this “needs based” registration was in
1996.
AVS had agreed in 1991
to contribute copies of JVST, through AIP, to the editors of seventeen
physics journals in Russia; the editors were each asked to select two
AIP journals which they wished to receive and two of them selected
JVST.
In 1996, Angus Rockett
suggested the formation of International Member Groups as a means of
nucleating vacuum societies in foreign countries and to teach them how
to run meetings; at that time, 20% of AVS members were outside the USA.
The Presidents Council was strongly opposed because of the harm it would
do to relations with IUVSTA. However, the topic was revisited in 1998.
In 1999, there were formal enquiries from members in Israel and Germany
and informal contacts with Hong Kong and Sweden; they were asked to work
with their national societies, all of which were IUVSTA members, Hong
Kong by then being within the area of the Chinese Vacuum Society.
History
During this era, considerable efforts were made for the celebration of
the 40th, and then the 50th, anniversary of the
Society. Planning by the History Committee for the 40th
anniversary began in 1990 and for the 50th anniversary in
2001.
In
1993, 6,000 sq. ft. was assigned for the History Exhibit in Orlando. Paul
Holloway was responsible for the exhibit and obtained assistance from
the curator of a museum in Gainesville, just as Ted Madey was assisted
by the curator from the Boston museum in mounting the 30th
anniversary exhibit. As well as the display of vacuum equipment and
artifacts, there was a collection of photos and videos were shown of the
Magdeburg hemisphere re-enactment in Boston and of excerpts from the
video-taped interviews with founding members and award winners.
The History Exhibit was recorded on video tape but, due to a glitch in
the recording, the audio description of the artifacts had to be dubbed
later by Jack Singleton. Photographs of the exhibit and of individual
pieces of equipment were published in the Jan/Feb 1994 Newsletter. After
the 1993 Symposium, some of the historical artifacts which had been
displayed were loaned to AIP for display in the new American Center for
Physics. Unfortunately, some of the items were damaged either there or
during the return trip.
Storage of the vacuum
artifacts which had been collected for the history exhibit was a problem
when, due to liability concerns, several companies withdrew their
original offers. In 1996, the equipment was being stored in three
locations; in Goleta, California by Ed Graper, at IBM, Yorktown Heights
by Steve Rossnagel, and in the basement of 120 Wall St. The items in
Wall St were transferred to the IBM location in 2000. Bill Sproul
undertook an inventory of the Goleta collection, which turned out to be
a difficult task because each piece had to be removed before it could be
photographed. Additions continue to be made to the collection; a number
of gauges, ion pumps and Ti evaporation pumps were added in 1998. Bruce
Kendall reviewed the contents of the equipment collection in the Mar/Apr
1998 Newsletter.
Paul Redhead edited a 160 page book on
Pioneers of the 20th
century, which was sold for $5, and he arranged with Elsevier-North
Holland to contribute 2000 copies of Adventures in Vacuum which
Elsevier-North Holland had also contributed to the IUVSTA Congress in
1992. Paul suggested that these be followed at two to three year
intervals by books on pioneers in surface science and thin films up to
1964, noting that Elsevier had recently published a book
Surface
Science: the First 30 years which covered the period since 1964. In
1995, the monograph History of the American Vacuum Society, also
edited by Paul Redhead, was distributed to all registrants at the
Minneapolis symposium; it was printed from an electronic file without
any galley proofs!
Special sessions were held by VTD and TFD at the 1993 Symposium to
highlight the development of these fields. Those Past Presidents and
Founding Members of AVS who could attend were recognized during the
Awards ceremony.
Dorothy Hoffman, Dick Denton and Collin Alexander organized, for the
History Committee, an exhibit on A Brief History of the
Industrialization of Thin Films at the 1996 Symposium in Philadelphia.
This was a much smaller exhibit than that in 1993 but it contained early
examples of thin films and coatings, such as the first headlights with
evaporated aluminum reflectors; the items are listed here.
Dorothy wrote a paper on the historical developments which was,
unfortunately, not published. It was based on information from her
records as well as those of Dick and Collin, and of Gilbert Zinsmeister.
Collin had given a talk on “Early Vacuum Systems and Process
Descriptions Used to Deposit Optical Coatings” at the 40th
Symposium and this was published [JVST A12, 1653 (1994)].
At
the 1997 Symposium, there was a special session, chaired by Peter
Hobson, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the discovery
of the electron. Peter wrote in the Newsletter [Jan/Feb 1998] that the
presentations were a “vibrant interpretation”, and noted that J.J.
Thomson had been a contemporary of his grandfather, which made the
history seem very recent. A “Vacuum Tube History Exhibition” was
organized by Don Koijane and John Helmer with the Electronics Museum of
the Perham Foundation. This included a 9-foot high, 900-pound Varian
klystron used in an early-warning radar system and an experimental
demonstration of Thomson’s original discovery of the electron.
The exhibit was funded jointly by AVS and the Perham Foundation, a
non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of
the history of electronics. Also on display at the exhibit was a 40-foot
long time line chart running from 1875 to 2000, showing many of the
historical events that marked the development of the vacuum tube and
other important events. It was transferred to the Education Committee
in 1999 and made available to chapters in electronic format. The plenary
lecture was given by Jack Kilby on the history of the integrated
circuit. In the Sep/Oct 1998 issue of the Newsletter, Don Meyer
reminisced on the early days of the semiconductor industry, from when he
started as a college co-op student at Texas Instruments in 1957. Don
also organized a session on “History of Semiconductor Thin Films-1999”
at the 1999 Symposium.
In
1996, AIP agreed to store the AVS archives at the American Center for
Physics in their climate controlled facility; paper is stored in acid
free containers. The archives were transferred in 1997 and annual
additions are made in accordance with an established program. In 1999,
Margaret Stringer scanned over 500 photos in the AVS collection onto CDs
and the hard copies were sent to the AIP for storage. The electronic
versions of photos are more useful for incorporation in publications and
are easily transmitted. Additions are made to the collection as they
become available. Jim Lafferty has continued to video-tape interviews
with major award winners; by 1999, he had taped over
50 interviews.
In 2000, through the efforts of Fred Dylla, the library at Jefferson Lab
agreed to house the AVS Historic Book
Collection in a visible but secure location, provided AVS purchased the
bookshelves. A letter of agreement was concluded in 2000 and the books
were relocated in 2001. All the books are available for inter-library
loan except for the few rare books. In 2000, the 6th edition
of the AVS list of vacuum textbooks was issued; the list contains over 200 books.
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