Era 4: Section 3
1991-2002 Ever Broadening Scope and Influence
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.
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.
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.
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.
