On behalf of the AVS community, we invite you to participate in, and submit an abstract to, the 59th International Symposium & Exhibition, to be held in Tampa, FL, October 28-November 2, 2012.

The AVS Symposium is a full-week conference with an average of 15 parallel sessions sponsored by 10 divisions and 2 technical groups, an extensive equipment exhibition and a wide range of networking and career advancement events. We encourage you to contribute to these exciting sessions and events and submit your abstract before the deadline on May 2, 2012.

This year’s Symposium promises to be more exciting and forward-looking than ever with feature programming in fourteen timely topical areas in addition to the core AVS technical program. Running concurrent with the Symposium, we have organized fourteen focused sets of sessions (Focus Topics) featuring state-of-the-art research on Actinides and Rare Earths, Biofilms and Biofouling, Biointerphases, Electron Transport at the Nanoscale, Energy Frontiers, Graphene and Related Materials, Helium Ion Microscopy, In situ Microscopy and Spectroscopy, Nanomanufacturing, Oxide Heterostructures – Interface Form & Function, Scanning Probe Microscopy, Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, Transparent Conductors and Printable Electronics, and Tribology.

AVS fosters a multidisciplinary environment that cuts across traditional boundaries between disciplines and is the place for exchanging ideas and perspectives on the latest developments in the science and technology of materials, interfaces and processing.  The technical program covers not only state-of-the-art advancements in the science and technology of measurement, manipulation and processing of material surfaces and interfaces, but also a wide range of fundamental findings to better understand the properties of these surfaces and interfaces for the purpose of manufacturing novel devices for high-impact applications. The program covers topics that span the range from biological materials to solid-state electronics, biological cells to solar cells, and friction and wear to plasma deposition of thin films. If your work involves fundamental science or applications and processing of materials and interfaces, we hope to see you in Tampa.

New features of this year’s program include Focus Topics (FTs) on Biointerphases, Oxide Heterostructures and Scanning Probe Microscopy.  The Biointerphases FT will focus on the challenge of imaging biological systems in vivo and obtaining chemically specific information.    The Oxide Heterostructures FT will bring world leaders together to examine the full range of phenomena, many entirely new, that occur at oxide interfaces with other oxides and materials.  The Scanning Probe Microscopy FT will provide a forum to discuss the latest advances being made in the SPM field that has revolutionized our understanding of nanoscale interfacial phenomena and provided more than 20 different types of microscopy at this scale.  If your work focuses on any of these three, leading-edge surface and interface research areas – then AVS-59 is the place to showcase your advances!

Nanoscale science and technology is a prevailing theme throughout the symposium, as the properties and processing of nanoscale materials are strongly affected by surfaces and interfaces. The use of nanostructured materials is ubiquitous and ranges from energy harvesting to electronic, optical or biomedical devices. Three quarters of the program encompass various aspects of Nano Science and Technology. If you work in or with Nano, consider submitting an abstract to one of many sessions on nanoscale science and technology.

The foundation of the AVS is vacuum science and technology, which over the years has evolved into the use of controlled and sophisticated environments for quantitative measurements and processing of material surfaces and interfaces. While there are many direct links to vacuum science and technology in many of the program topics, controlled environments and measurements are now being applied to a spectrum of in vacuo, in situ, in operando, and in vivo systems. If your work involves the development of controlled environments, the processing of interfacial systems, or quantitative interfacial analysis - from vacuum, to plasmas, to biological systems, then the AVS is the venue where you need to present your work!

As you examine the Call for Abstracts, we are certain that you will see many sessions that will interest you and still many others that will be a perfect fit for your latest research. We think that you will benefit greatly by participating in this Symposium and networking with the rest of the AVS community.

We look forward to receiving your abstract and seeing you in warm, sunny Tampa!