Preface: Phys. Status Solidi C 7/3‐4
Authors: Skákalová Viera , Kaiser Alan B. , Chiu Po‐Wen , Meyer Jannik C. , Mauri Francesco 
Published: March 2010

The papers included in this issue are a selection from the wide variety of presentations at Symposium N of the European Materials Research Society (E‐MRS) Spring Meeting in Strasbourg from 8–12 June 2009. The subject of Symposium N was “Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene – Low Dimensional Carbon Structures”. The symposium was organized by Viera Skákalová of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart (Germany), Alan B. Kaiser of the Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), Po‐Wen Chiu of the National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu (Taiwan), Jannik C. Meyer of the University of Ulm (Germany) and Francesco Mauri of the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris (France).

The Symposium attracted researchers from a variety of countries around the world, as well as from within Europe. The papers published here are divided into three sections classified according to the materials they investigate: firstly carbon nanotubes, secondly graphene, and lastly a smaller number on other related structures. In each section, papers cover the synthesis, characterization, theory and applications of the material.

The intense international research effort on carbon nanotubes continues unabated, with a shift as the field matures towards applications and new ways of synthesizing nanotubes. This is reflected in the papers included in these proceedings. Carbon nanotube applications investigated range from sensors (Kukovecz et al.) to field‐emission devices (Chiang et al.) and optoelectronic device anodes (Antony et al.). Other topics are electrodeposited PdNi as possible ferromagnetic contacts for carbon nanotubes (Usgaocar et al.), and using unconventional lithography to fabricate ordered carbon nanotubes structures (Cavallini et al.). Synthesis methods for carbon nanotubes discussed are by arc discharge in liquid nitrogen (Salvatore et al.), using screen‐printing catalyst (Chiang et al.), and plasma‐enhanced chemical vapour deposition, which can lead to interesting shapes (Duraia et al.). On the other hand, low cost carbon nanotubes are the goal of Smadja et al. In a theoretical study, Popov et al. investigate the effect of defects on the intermediate frequency Raman spectrum.

Graphene is of course one of the hottest new fields in materials science, and is well represented in these proceedings. Growth of few‐layer graphene by gas‐source molecular beam epitaxy is described by Maeda et al. Characterization of the graphene‐SiO2 interface is carried out by Giannazzo et al., and of the graphene‐SiC interface by Sonde et al., who also investigate the nanoscale capacitive behaviour of ion‐irradiated graphene in a separate paper. The etching of graphene layers (Nemes‐Incze et al.) and the formation and properties of graphene nanoribbons (Dobrik et al., La Magna et al.) are of great interest for applications. Graphene devices are now being developed: Hummel, Pezoldt et al. investigate the electric properties of backgate graphene transistors.

The third category of papers on Other Related Structures emphasizes the wide utility of carbon nanostructures and composites (Fleaca et al., Matzui et al., Vovchenko et al., Tolvanen et al.). There is also an additional paper (Lehtinen et al.) on boron nitride nanotubes that (while not containing carbon) have interesting similarities and differences compared to carbon nanotubes.

On Wednesday, 10 June 2009, the Student Award competition took place. A five‐member committee – Davide Ricci (Italy), Jannik Meyer (Germany), Po‐Wen Chiu (Taiwan), Arkady Krasheninnikov (Finland) and Arnaud Magrez (Switzerland)) – selected two from a total number of five applicants for the prize: Péter Nemes‐Incze (Research Institute for Technical Physics and Materials Science, Hungary) for the work ‘Crystalloraphic orientation dependent etching of graphene layers’, and Sushant Sonde (Scuola Superiore di Catania and CNR‐IMM, Italy) for the work ‘Nanoscale capacitive behaviour of ion irradiated graphene’.

Finally, we acknowledge the perfect organization of the conference by the Headquarter of E‐MRS. We particularly thank the participants of Symposium N who presented their exciting scientific results, initiated discussions with arguments and new ideas, and formed new collaborations and friendships (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)