Invited Paper EM-TuA1
Division Chairs, Executive Committees and Perspectives on the Evolution of EMPD

Tuesday, October 29, 2013, 2:00 pm, Room 102 A

The Electronic Materials and Processing Division (EMPD) has been through a long evolution from a division driven heavily by the electronic device fabrication community to a division with less of a clear home. The plasma processing that is the core of the Plasma Science and Technology Division and nanotechnology that is central to the Nanoscience and Technology Division that now represent large fractions of the AVS program evolved from strong areas in the EMPD. The division now looks to organic and inorganic devices, oxides, metals, and many other less closely linked areas. As with several other divisions, the EMPD has had a strong intellectual connection to its topical conferences. However, unlike the other divisions, EMPD does not directly organize the three beams, molecular beam epitaxy workshop, physics and chemistry of surfaces and interfaces, and other topical conferences important to its core area. Although the senior members of the EMPD executive committee often have been senior organizers of these workshops, they run much more independently than do, for example, the ICMCTF and the Vacuum Technology Division or the ALD Workshop and the Thin Film Division. The leaders of the division over the years have struggled with the changes in the field and have worked hard to maintain the division as a vibrant part of the AVS. The EMPD looks forward to nucleating additional core areas of the AVS program in the future. It is truly the nursery for new AVS divisions and remains near the center of the AVS fields of interest.