17th International Summer School on Vacuum, Electron, and Ion Technologies (VEIT 2011)

Abstract

The International Summer School on Vacuum, Electron and Ion Technologies (VEIT) has been organizedbiennially since 1977, when the VEIT Summer School series was launched by the Institute of Electronics,Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The aim was to act as a forum for the exchange and dissemination ofknowledge and ideas on the latest developments in electron-, ion- and plasma-assisted technologies. Theorganizers of the 2011 edition of the event were the Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy ofSciences, Sofia, Bulgaria and the Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology,Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Whilst the school initially provided a meeting place for researchers mainlyfrom Eastern and Central European countries, its importance has grown issue by issue. The school is now amajor scientific event and a meeting place for young scientists from Eastern and Western Europe involvedin research and development associated with high-tech industries. Many former school participantshave gone on to become leading scientists in research establishments and companies throughout theworld. Leading international companies, such as High Voltage Engineering, Balzers, Varian, and Hauzerhave used the VEIT forum to present their products through oral presentations, poster contributions andexhibits. The School Proceedings have been published in special issues of the international journals Vacuum, Plasma Processes and Polymers and Journal of Physics: Conference Series.The Seventeenth edition of VEIT was held in the Black Sea resort of Sunny Beach, Bulgaria on 19–23September 2011. It was attended by 96 participants from 18 countries: Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, CzechRepublic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Sweden,Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, UK and USA.Following the tradition of publishing the VEIT Proceedings, a selection of papers presented at theevent is published in this special issue of Journal of Physics: Conference Series, under the originality andquality criteria of acceptance by the journal, including peer reviewing.The school comprised thirteen plenary and three poster sessions. At the plenary sessions, 21 invitedtalks of general interest were presented by highly-renowned international experts in the field, as wellas thirteen progress reports by young scientists. In total, 60 contributed papers were presented duringthe poster sessions. There were several scientific highlights, covering the fundamentals of interaction offast particles with solids, and challenging practical applications. These ranged from novel techniquesfor creating hard coatings, optical/protective layers and biocompatible materials, to nanosized structuresproduced by evaporation, sputtering or external irradiation. The latest results were presented on ion-beamsynthesis and modification in both low-energy (deposition and film growth) and high-energy (sputtering,implantation) regimes, the processing of solid materials aimed at surface patterning, and the creation ofnanophase systems for electronic or tribological/wear resistant applications.Despite the busy scientific program, the atmosphere was relaxed and informal. The early afternoonsof most conference days were free to stimulate both scientific and social interaction between participants,which often took place on the beach. The social program included a welcome party, an official dinner,and an outing to historical landmarks in the vicinity of Nessebar.VEIT 2011 owes its success to many people. The International Advisory Committee shaped thescientific program and ensured high-quality plenary presentations by their careful selection of the invitedspeakers. The Local Committee bore the brunt of the organization, both at the conference site andin dealing with correspondence, abstracts, and manuscripts for these proceedings. We are grateful toour sponsor, the Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, TheNetherlands, for its generosity that enabled us to support the attendance of students, and provided supportdealing with mailing, printing, renting the conference site, etc. We are also grateful to the membersof the International Advisory Committee: G Dinescu, A Ehiasarian, N Guerassimov, D Mataras, WMöller, I Petrov, Z Petrovic, B Rauschenbach, M C M (Richard) van de Sanden and M Ürgen, for theircontinuous concern for the high scientific level and the future of the event, and for their contribution to thedevelopment of a new generation of scientists and experts in the field. And, last but not least, we wouldalso like to thank all authors for their valuable contributions to these proceedings and to the school, andall reviewers for their hard and tedious, but very important, work.The next conference in the series will be held in September 2013. M C M van de Sanden, Miglena Dimitrova and Chavdar Ghelev Guest Editors