C15. Commission on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics

20th International Conference on Amorphous and Microcrystalline Semiconductors - ICAMS 20
Campos do Jordão, S.P., Brazil
August 25-29/2003

Conference report to the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics-IUPAP

SCOPE AND LOCATION

The 20th International Conference on Amorphous and Microcrystalline Semiconductors (ICAMS 20) was held at the Mont Blanc Hotel in Campos do Jordão, SP., Brazil. It followed previous ICAMS meetings held in Cambridge, Kobe, Budapest, Snowbird and Nice during the past ten years. The scope of ICAMS 20 included all aspects of research on amorphous and microcrystalline semiconductors from fundamental understanding of physical phenomena to device technology and applications. An opening to contributions on organic semiconductors and devices was included for the first time in the ICAMS agenda. Campos do Jordão, located 100 miles from the São Paulo international airport in Guarulhos, is a 40,000 inhabitants tourist resort in the Serra da Mantiqueira. The weather at Campos (~1700 m above sea level) is of a tropical-temperate nature, the average annual temperature being ~15C.

Guarulhos International Airport, first in Brazil, has non-stop daily connections with major cities in Europe (Paris, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, etc.) and the Americas (NY City, Miami, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto, Montreal, Mexico City, etc.). Two airlines offer a daily flight to/from Japan. A special transportation system connecting Guarulhos to Campos do Jordão and return was organized and put at the disposal of all attendants during the conference days, as well as during the days preceding and following the conference. Taxicabs were also available at Guarulhos airport.

The conference language was English.

Accommodations for participants were available at the Mont Blanc Hotel (conference venue) and at other hotels of various grades near the Conference site.

The social program included a reception party; a banquet, an excursion and sightseeing tours in and around Campos do Jordão.

DEADLINES AND CONFERENCE FEES

Abstracts	8 March 2003
Acceptance decision	31 May 2003
Manuscripts	12 July 2003
Advanced registration	12 July 2003
Advanced registration:	U$ 350.00 (July 12th)
Conference desk:	U$ 400.00
Students:	U$ 150.00

PROCEEDINGS

Elsevier Science Publications will publish the conference proceedings in a special issue of the Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids. As usual, presentation of accepted papers at the conference is a necessary condition for inclusion in the proceedings. Papers were refereed before and during the conference. I, Chambouleyron, F. Alvarez, M. Stutzmann and P.C. Taylor will edit the Proceedings, which should appear by May 2004.

CONFERENCE COMMITTEES

Organizing Committee

I. Chambouleyron (Chairman), F. Alvarez (co-Chairman), M. Stutzmann, P.C. Taylor, A. Fazzio, S. Camargo

International Program Committee

J. Andreu (Spain), I. Chambouleyron (Brazil), J.P. Conde (Portugal), F.S. Crandall (USA), S.R. Elliott (UK), L. Ley (Germany), C. Longeaud (France), F.C. Marques (Brazil), A. Matsuda (Japan), H. Okamoto (Japan), C.F. Pirri (Italy), M. Popescu (Romania), M.J. Powell (UK), J. Robertson (UK), P. Roca I Cabarrocas (France), R.E.I. Schropp (The Netherlands), M. Shubert (Germany), I. Shimizu (Japan), R.A. Street (USA), M. Stutzmann (Germany), P.C. Taylor (USA), M.L. Theye (France), M. Vanececk (Czech Republic), S. Wagner (USA)

International Advisory Committee

E.A. Davis (UK, Chairman), G. Adraiaenssens (Belgium), K. Chen (China), S.R. Elliott (UK), B. Equer (France), W. Fuhs (Germany), C. Godet (France), J. Kocka (Czech Republic), S. Kugler (Hungary), L. Ley (Germany), G. Lucovsky (USA), R. Martins (Portugal), A. Matsuda (Japan), J. Robertson (UK), K. Shimakawa (Japan), R.A. Street (USA), M. Stutzmann (Germany), A. Tagliaferro (Italy), P.C. Taylor (USA), S. Wagner (USA).

ICAMS 20 SECRETARY ADDRESS

WEB site     http://www.icams20.org
E-mail          icams20@unicamp.br
Mailing         ICAMS20, DFA/IFGW, CP 6165,
                   UNICAMP, 13083-970 Campinas, SP, Brazil
Fax             +55 19 3788 5376

ATTENDANCE AND DATA

192 participants originating from 27 different countries attended the conference, 32 of which were women. The participants submitted 213 manuscripts to be considered for publication in the conference proceedings.

Two plenary talks opened the conference. The Mott Lecture, given by Prof. A. Matsuda (Tsukuba, Japan) on Microcrystalline silicon: growth and device applications; and The history of ICAMS, delivered by Prof. E.A. Davis (Cambridge, UK). There were parallel sessions each day and poster sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evening. The presentation of 14 invited talks, given by specialist on the different subjects of the conference, were part of the program. One of the invited talks was given by Prof. Maria Cristina dos Santos. She is a professor at the University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Brazil. The Conference complied with all IUPAP requirements. See more detailed information in the Conference Program annexed to this report.

The organizers were successful in obtaining partial support from different national and international sources to cover the costs of the organization. This successful effort allowed ICAMS 20 to cover the transportation fare of many participants from developing countries, to offer a waiver of the conference fees to some of them, and to consider a reduced fee to many colleagues from third world countries. It is important to emphasize the strong participation of Latin American researchers and students.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

ICAMS 20 was a special conference. Firstly because, for the first time, the conference was held in a third world country. We are happy and proud that Brazil was selected to host the 20th ICAMS. For us, this constitutes an international recognition of the seriousness of the work done here in field of amorphous and microcrystalline semiconductors. To host the conference in Brazil was also important because, as we said when submitting the application in Snowbird (USA) in 1999, this gave us the possibility of putting together scientists from the north and from the south. In particular, young Latin American researchers, who seldom have the opportunity to travel, attended updated lectures on the subjects they are working on. We committed ourselves to make this possible and we were fortunate in obtaining financial support to help colleagues from Latin America and other developing countries.

In the second place, the conference was a special event because we are living a very difficult time. Four years ago, when we applied to organize the conference, the world was a peaceful and loving place to live in. Nobody, at that time could have imagined that in the last year we would have terrorist attacks, a war in the Middle-East, the appearance of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and last, but not least, a serious economic crisis that severely limits traveling for scientific purposes. Needless to say, that all these catastrophic or negative events contaminated not only ICAMS 20, but also all the scientific meetings around the world. As a consequence, some colleagues could not travel to Campos do Jordão; others canceled their trip at the last moment and withdraw their contributions. We were deeply sorry for this situation but, despite these difficulties, we had a very fruitful and enjoyable conference.

On behalf of the Organizing Committee we thank the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics for the U$ 6,000.00 financial support.

Prof. Ivan Chambouleyron,
Chairman ICAMS 20
Unicamp - IFGW - DFA
Cp 6165, 13083-970 Campinas, SP, Brazil
September 30, 2003