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Mensagem de Robert Nemanich,
presidente da IUMRS The Brazillian Society for Materials Research – the Brazil-MRS (Sociedade Brasileira de Pesquisa em Materials – SBPMat) hosted the second Brazil – MRS Meeting in Rio de Janeiro during October 26-29, 2003. This meeting brought together materials researchers from throughout Brazil, South America, and throughout the world. Set in the Pestana Rio Atlântica Hotel across from the beaches of the Copacabana, it seemed that every session sparkled with the excitement of discovery and innovation as the researchers shared their results and ideas and explored new and exciting challenges. As researchers gathered at the opening session on Sunday evening, I was struck by the collegiality of the attendees. Animated discussions held everyone’s interest, and friends from around the world appreciated each other’s challenges and accomplishments. It was evident that everyone was excited about the discussions that would fill the days ahead. The six symposia and workshop, which were presented in the following three days, held everyone away from the beautiful city - except for early morning walks and evening meals. Each interdisciplinary symposium brought together researchers with interests that ranged from fundamental science to materials processing and characterization to advanced applications. I found myself completely captured by the sessions. Each question seemed to address a critical issue. It was a pleasure to be around such a group of leading researchers. In the late afternoons, the whole conference converged at the poster session. It was a time to have detailed discussions, and I appreciated the opportunity to hear of the accomplishment of the many young researchers particularly from Brazil and South America. The plenary session addressed the complex issues that face researchers in the current climate of government funding of coordinated projects with international scope and the globalization of industry. The International Union of Materials Research Societies may offer opportunities for researchers to gather with government and industrial leaders to identify the critical problems where materials science and technology can make advances that will benefit our societies. The evenings allowed time to explore the streets of Brazil, to be captured by the music and the people, and to spend time with new and old friends. The churrascaria style conference dinner was a great time for sharing stories beyond our research. At every level the hosts were gracious, and the conference was comfortable for the attendees. The comments at the closing session echoed everyone’s appreciation of their attention to every detail. Most of us were sorry the meeting was coming to an end, but we were all left with a grand impression of the vitality of materials research in Brazil.
Symposium Summaries: Symposium A: Current Trends in Nanostructured Materials and Systems: This symposium explored detailed issues related to self assembly of a wide range of different nanostructures. Some of the discussion centered on the following topics: Development of functional nanostructures and technology building blocks may be a successful approach for developing nanotechnology applications. Manipulation and patterning at the nanometer scale must be paralleled with new approaches for characterization of individual nanostructures. New microscopy approaches were discussed, and atomic force microscopy based techniques were considered for both characterization and patterning. X-ray scattering approaches are being developed to analyze complex aspects such as interface intermixing for nanostructures. Thermodynamics at the nanoscale may be dominated by surface and interface properties, and shape transitions from dots to wires and more complex structures such as quadruplets were reported and discussed. Processing of individual nanoparticles may be possible if the surface chemistry can be appropriately tailored. Spin based electronics may require nanoscale control to artificially prepare the nanoscale magnetic structures. Nanostructures of physical and biological systems may be employed in new approaches to fabricate nanostructures. The research topics addressed many of the most significant challenges for the development of nanotechnology. The broad experience of the researchers led to many discussions that went beyond the scope of the presentations. There were many animated discussions during the breaks where researchers asked complex questions. The answers to these questions will most certainly form the basis of the most intriguing presentations in future meetings. Workshop: Growth, Characterization and Device Applications of Semiconductor Nanostructures Based on Group-III Nitrides: This session brought together a group of experts from Brazil and around the world to focus their attention on issues related to the properties of III-Nitride materials and devices. It is recognized that GaN is already an economically important material. Blue and green GaN light emitting diodes are now commonplace in bright displays and blue/UV laser diodes are becoming available. Still the full potential of III-nitrides is only just being realized. Some devices have employed the polarity and spontaneous polarization of the hexagonal III-Nitride materials to engineer high carrier densities, while the same polarity effects may limit other devices. Several presentations focused on cubic materials where there is no spontaneous polarization and the electric fields in the device structures can be controlled to achieve more efficient emission and electronic device performance. Advanced characterization centered on optical techniques while new electron microscopy approaches were discussed as methods to determine the internal fields of the structures. Still the challenges of growth of material with a low defect concentration are formidable, and the development of a lattice matched substrate and heteroepitaxial quaternary alloys in a device structure could achieve real breakthroughs. Each presentation began with a broad overview of the critical issues and quickly focused on new experimental and theoretical results. The interplay between theory and experiment will certainly be important to develop these device structures and to achieve defect reduction. The workshop format allowed complex problems to be addressed in the discussion, and there always was a wealth of knowledge from the participants to gain insight into every problem. The complex interplay of polarization fields, defects, and optical properties is a challenging problem that encompasses materials growth, fundamental physics, and device concepts. The workshop participants certainly came away with a better understanding of this interplay and numerous new approaches were discussed and analyzed during the breaks. Solving these complex problems will almost certainly require a multifaceted approach that goes beyond the expertise of most small groups. The workshop format seemed most appropriate for advancing this field. Sincerely,
Robert J. Nemanich
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