The ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology (JSS) is one of the newest peer-reviewed journals from ECS launched in 2012.

Atomic Layer Etch (ALEt) and Atomic Layer Clean (ALC) are emerging as enabling technologies for sub 10nm technology nodes. At these scales performance will be extremely sensitive to process variation.

Atomic layer processes are the most promising path to deliver the precision needed. However, many areas of ALEt and ALC are in need of improved fundamental understanding and process development. This focus issue will cover state-of-the-art efforts that address a variety of approaches to ALEt and ALC.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Surface reaction chemistry and its impact on selectivity
• Plasma ion energy distribution and control methods
• Novel plasma sources and potential application to ALEt & ALC
• Innovative approaches to atomic layer material removal
• Novel device applications of ALEt & ALC
• Process chamber design considerations
• Advanced delivery of chemicals to processing chambers
• Metrology and control of ALEt & ALC
• Device performance impact
• Synthesis of new chemistries for ALEt & ALC application
• Damage free surface defect removal
• Process and discharge modeling

Find out more!

Deadline for submission of manuscripts is December 17, 2014.

Please submit manuscripts here.

Norwegian entrepreneur, Jostein Eikeland, is finally unveiling the development his has been working on in secret for the past decade in hopes to jolt the world of energy storage.

Eikeland and his company Alevo plan to reveal a battery that will last longer and cost far less than the current rival technologies. To do this, they have developed a technology that is to store excess electricity generated by power plants.

This from Reuters:

The company has created what it calls GridBanks, which are shipping containers full of thousands of battery cells. Each container can deliver 2 megawatts of power, enough to power up to 1,300 homes for an hour. The batteries use lithium iron phosphate and graphite as active materials and an inorganic electrolyte – what Eikeland called the company’s “secret sauce” – that extends longevity and reduces the risk of burning. They can be charged and discharged over 40,000 times, the company said.

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“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
-Arthur C. Clarke

Doctoral student Joseph Choi is pictured with a a multidirectional `perfect paraxial’ cloak using 4 lenses.
Credit: University of Rochester Newscenter

Scientists at the University of Rochester have developed a real-world invisibility cloak. This Harry Potter-esque cloak has the ability to hide objects from view, and is surprisingly inexpensive due to the readily available materials in its novel configuration.

“There’ve been many high tech approaches to cloaking and the basic idea behind these is to take light and have it pass around something as if it isn’t there, often using high-tech or exotic materials,” said John Howell, a professor of physics at the University of Rochester.

The Rochester Cloak is different from its predecessors, because unlike invisibility cloaks of the past, this cloak maintains an object’s invisibility even when the viewer changes his or her angle and creates a different viewpoint.

“This is the first device that we know of that can do three-dimensional, continuously multidirectional cloaking, which works for transmitting rays in the visible spectrum,” said Joseph Choi, a PhD student at Rochester’s Institute of Optics who is working with physics professor John Howell at the university.

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The NeXXt Scholars Program was launched by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in December 2011.

The New York Academy of Sciences in partnership with the U.S. Department of State and a consortium of 38 women’s colleges launched the NeXXt Scholars Program, now entering its third year, to help engage and advance American women and women from countries with predominantly Muslim populations in pursuit of undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) academic fields. In order to accomplish this goal, the Academy will provide partnership, mentorship, and networking support for these NeXXt Scholars by way of a STEM Fellow who will serve as a one-to-one mentor.

Applications for 2014 STEM Fellow positions are being accepted until September 20th.

Find more information or submit an application today.

ECS is also proud to provide students with excellent opportunities in electrochemical and solid state science and technology. Network at the Society’s meetings or become a member to receive even greater benefits.

Sensors detect and measure changes in position, temperature, light, etc. and they are necessary to turn billions of objects into data-generating “things” that can report on their status, and in some cases, interact with their environment.

With countless companies adopting the ever growing technology that is the Internet of Things (IoT), it is expected to grow to a multitrillion-dollar market by the year 2020.

The basic concept of IoT is to bring as many things into the digital fold as possible and create an ultimate sense of interconnection through hardware and software – but most importantly, through sensors.

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