Aiming at a BreakthroughThe world supported by the Thin Filmand Surface Physics
Hidemi Shigekawa
Chief, Thin Film and Surface Division  
The Japan Society of Applied Physics

The Thin Film and Surface Physics Division was established inFebruary 1970, after five years of research activities aimed at combining
surface science and thin film technology, as surface research was gradually establishing a position as an exact science amid the evolution of all
draw high vacuum technologies. The Division had about 300 members
at the time of its inauguration, but it currently has approximately 900
members. Japan Society of Applied Physics meetings are divided up intodifferent sessions, such as ferroelectric film, carbon based thin film, oxide
electronics, new thin film materials, surface physics / vacuum, and probe
microscopes, but the members' specialties include a wide range of fields,
ranging from semiconductor and superconductor nanotechnologies tothe development of organic and biomaterials, so this Division holds acore position in the context of JSAP.
Film technologies offer outstanding old characteristics versatility, andso have become the foundation for many fields targeting the development of new devices and functional materials. These technologies havecome to play a vital role in this regard. The recent development of flat or“thin” screen TVs has established the concept of “thin” as a common
aspect of our daily lives, and we are already seeing products such as
displays and solar cells that are not only thin and light, but can also bebent and shaped. Astounding new functions integrated into surprisingly thin devices are an appointment of the scientific and technologicalinnovations recently been achieved in the nano-scale world, and give usa sense of the further developments being achieved based on thin filmtechnologies.
Along with thin film technologies, surface science represent thesecond key factor that supports the development of new materials andfunctional elements. As mentioned above, new research is being undertaken aimed at developing technologies for producing clean surfaces
under ultra-high vacuum conditions and for conducting detailed evaluations of the various phenomena that arise during those processes. The
invention of "scanning tunneling microscopes" by Dr. Gerd Binnig andDr. Heinrich Rohrer of IBM Zurich, both recipients of the Nobel Prize forPhysics in 1986, made it possible not only to observe the structures ofsolid surfaces and phenomenon occurring at the atomic level on thosesurfaces, but also to freely manipulate individual atoms and molecules.
As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” ; this new
device revealed the atomic and molecular structures and dynamics ofsurfaces that could only be imagined in the past, clarifying many local
hidden phenomena that never appeared through existing technologies
dealing only in averaged information.

In 2007, Dr. Gerhard Ertl of the Fritz Haber Institute received theNobel Prize in Chemistry for “studies of chemical processes on solidsurfaces.” He was recognized for having established methods using
surface science technologies for accurately investigating the mechanismsof typical catalytic reactions, such as the synthesis of ammonia on ironsurfaces or the oxidation of carbon monoxide on platinum surfaces, andfor cultivating surface sciences into a major research field. His researchthat made it possible to see the reaction in which carbon monoxidechanges into carbon dioxide on a platinum surface showed the dynamicsof chemical reactions as a beautiful image that was startling and impressive to all that saw it.
In 1991, to mark the 20th anniversary of its inauguration, the Thin
Film and Surface Physics Division established the “International Conference on Atomically Controlled Surfaces, Interfaces and Nanostructures(ACSIN),” which is held in turns in Japan, the U.S., and Europe, andwhich leads and supports all of these fields. (The 9th Conference washeld in Japan in 2007.) For the past 15 years or so, I have been involvedin the development of methods focusing on “Scanning probe microscopes” and in research on nano-scale physical characteristics. Looking
at the path of development, from the early stages when such great
effort was required to see atoms to today, when it is possible to freely
manipulate individual atoms, I realize that this path represents the historyof fields covered by ACSIN, and I am strongly reminded of the importantrole played by the Thin Film and Surface Physics Division.
We often hear that “surfaces are extremely thin, but they do have athickness.” The evolution of modern nano-scale science and technology
is expected to remove the barriers between many fields, and to enable
the merging of different fields and the creation of new fields. As I havestated, it is no exaggeration to say that the world of surfaces and thinfilms, demonstrating thickness and depth, will be the central stage forthose activities. Existing semiconductor technologies have reached a limit
in terms of sizes, where the smallest attainable devices measures several
tens of nanometers, and there is a strong demand for new ideas anddramatic leaps forward in new technologies that will enable new functions to be achieved. Further innovations will also be required to effectively utilize the diverse characteristics of molecules. I have great expectations that the evolution of thin film and surface physics will open up newworlds, making major contributions to the development of new sciences
and technologies that transcend existing fields, and triggering new andimportant breakthroughs in the future.

JSAP International   No.17 (January 2008)        