Analytical techniques for precise characterization of nanomaterials
Authors: Nutsch Andreas , de Castro Fernando Araujo , Adelmann Christoph , Adelmann Blanka 
Published: March 2015

This special edition contains the proceedings of ALTECH 2014 – Analytical Techniques for Precise Characterisation of Nanomaterials, Symposium H of the European Materials Research Society (E‐MRS) Spring Meeting 2014 that was held in Lille, France, from 26th–30th May. ALTECH is a series of conferences initiated in 1989. The conference was offered as a satellite of symposium of semiconductor conferences in Europe or, on occasion, in the U.S., with a strong focus on analytical techniques for microelectronics manufacturing and research. In 2012, the German metrology institute PTB joined the executive board of the ALTECH and proposing a broadening of the ALTECH scope towards the characterization of nanomaterials. While imec has ensured the organizational continuity, further European metrology institutes adhered to the organizational board which made ALTECH to an important European metrology event on nanomaterials characterisation.

Our conference covered recent and innovative developments in analytical techniques that can provide precise characterization of surfaces and materials, characterization of nanostructures and study of thin films with nanoscale and/or atomic resolution. In total, 167 contributions were presented, including 11 invited presentations, 87 contributed oral presentations and 69 poster presentations. The event also included significant contributions from the European Metrology Research Program projects 'Metrology for the manufacturing of thin films', 'Traceable characterization of nanostructured devices', 'Novel electronic devices based on control of strain at the nanoscale', and 'Chemical metrology tools for manufacture of advanced biomaterials in the medical device industry' including related tutorial sessions.

Nanomaterials have unique properties associated with their small dimensionality. Functional nanomaterials are rapidly finding wider use in modern technological products in many areas, for example, displays, energy conversion, energy storage, sensors and biosensors. The accurate characterization of nanoscale materials is essential for the development of such innovative products. Conversely, properly engineered nanomaterials are currently seen as one of the most promising tools for high resolution optical microscopy.

The objective of ALTECH was to highlight metrology capabilities for both the determination of the key structural and material property parameters in view of a better understanding of the related functional properties. One major focus was the application of these techniques to new and complex material systems with high potential of industrial impact, including nanoscale objects (nanowires, quantum dots), nanostructured thin films of organic, hybrid, or inorganic semiconductors, and functionalized surfaces. A special focus was given to complementary metrology in terms of using different analytical techniques with the aim of ensuring accuracy and traceability, i.e. the inclusion of a well‐described uncertainty budget. As many of these techniques depend on modelling to achieve reliable results, effective material analysis and computational analysis of materials and thin layers were also a key topic.

These proceedings contain a selection of 23 manuscripts published in pss (a) and pss (c). pss (c) is organized in three sections:

– Analysis of surfaces and materials

– Characterization of nanostructures

– Study of thin films.

We would like to thank all invited speakers, contributors and attendees for their high‐quality contributions and excellent discussions which made ALTECH a very successful meeting. We are grateful to the scientific committee and external colleagues who supported the symposium and the organisation of these proceedings as well as acted as session chairs and reviewers.

We thank the E‐MRS headquarter staff for their assistance in organising the symposium as well as Wiley‐VCH for helping with the publication of these proceedings. We also would like to acknowledge the sponsorship of several companies and institutions (NPL, Berlin Partner, Rigaku, Elexience, EXSA, INRIM, AXO Dresden, Sentech), as well as the support of the European Union through the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP), projects IND07 ThinFilms and NEW01 TReND, IND54 Nanostrain, and IND56 Q‐AIMDS. The EMRP is jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union.

Andreas Nutsch, PTB, Germany

Fernando Araujo de Castro, NPL, U.K.

Christoph Adelmann, Imec, Belgium

Blanka Detlefs, CEA‐Leti, France

Guest Editors