Future Directions for Ion Beam Technology and Research: Forum Report
- PDF / 154,873 Bytes
- 8 Pages / 432 x 648 pts Page_size
- 99 Downloads / 182 Views
Future Directions for Ion Beam Technology and Research: Forum Report
John E.E. Baglin1 and Daryush Ila2 1 2
IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Rd., San Jose, CA 95120, USA; University of North Carolina - Fayetteville State University, 1200 Murchison Rd., No. 15475, Fayetteville, NC 28301-4297, USA.
ABSTRACT As an integral part of the Symposium on "Ion Beams - Applications from Nanoscale to Mesoscale" at the MRS Spring 2011 Meeting, participants were invited to join two open “brainstorming” Forum Discussions, intended to highlight opportunities for application of ion beam techniques in advancing the frontiers of materials research and making high impact contributions to solving some of the world’s major issues for the future. Participants were invited to imagine freely how the field might develop (or be steered) in the next 5-10 years, in the light of the current state of the art, and in the light of the emerging needs of the global community. The resulting ideas and suggestions led to thoughtful discussions, that displayed a remarkable degree of consensus on future directions, opportunities and challenges for the field. This paper attempts to capture and report briefly the spectrum of ideas and the recommended priorities that emerged from the resulting discussions. OUTLINE The variety and innovative enterprise displayed in many recent publications and conferences on ion beam technology, science, and applications, indicate a field in which new ideas and insights are stimulating studies in many rapidly evolving topics such as bio materials or nanoscale devices, with the potential for having major impacts in addressing some of the world's big problems and challenges. It therefore seemed to be an appropriate time for an informal assembly of frontier researchers to exchange their varied ideas and perceptions and thoughtful predictions about the future progress of the field, topics of high potential, and exciting and timely opportunities for research ranging from fundamental discoveries to commercial applications and novel instrumentation. Thus, two special open Forum events were included in the program of the Symposium on "Ion Beams - Applications from Nanoscale to Mesoscale" at the MRS Spring 2011 Meeting. Following the style of similar discussion sessions of recent invitational "Ion Beam Institutes" hosted by Alabama A&M University, participants were invited to briefly express their personal ideas about the progress and future of the entire field and its applications, challenges, and opportunities. J. Baglin served as Moderator. The following report attempts to describe the context of the discussions, and summarize (without any editorial selection) the great variety of topics and suggestions that arose, reflecting
153
an encouraging consensus of opinion in many cases, among the approximately 50 attendees. Many of the responses proposed broad areas in which ion beam techniques should be expected to make key enabling contributions. However, some of the responses (appropriately) centered on visions of dramatic a
Data Loading...
