Preface:Special issue in honour of Professor T Shinjo containing selected papers from the 17th International Colloquium on Magnetic Films and Surfaces

Abstract

The 17th International Colloquium on Magnetic Films and Surfaces (ICMFS-2002) was held on March 5-8, 2002 in Kyoto, Japan. The aim of the Colloquium was to bring together scientists working on magnetic thin films and surfaces and to provide an opportunity for presentations and discussions of recent experimental and theoretical advances in the field. The first of the series of ICMFS (initially named as the International Colloquium on Magnetic Thin Films, ICMTF) was organized in 1964 in London by Professor E P Wohlfarth. The chronology of ICMFS and chairpersons are as follows:1st 1964 London (UK) E P Wohlfarth2nd 1966 Jena (DDR) W Andre 3rd 1967 Cambridge (USA) D O Smith4th 1970 Prague (CSSR) L Valenta05th 1972 MtFuji Area (Japan) S Chikazumi 06th 1973 Minsk (USSR) N N Sirota 07th 1975 Regensburg (FRG) H Hoffmann 08th 1976 York (UK) M Prutton09th 1979 Poznan (Poland) L Wojtczak10th 1982 Yokohama (Japan) Y Gondo11th 1985 Asilomar (USA) P Wigen12th 1988 Le Creusot (France) I B Puchalska, J Miltat13th 1991 Glasgow (UK) J N Chapman 14th 1994 Dusseldorf (Germany) J Kirschner, E Kisker15th 1997 Sunshine Coast (Australia) T Shinjo 16th 2000 Natal (Brazil) M N Baibich 17th 2002 Kyoto (Japan) T Shinjo, S Maekawa 18th 2003 Madrid (Spain) A HernandoIn the 17th Colloquium, approximately 250 scientists participated, making presentations and taking part in informal discussions. Without doubt the Colloquium was a great success overall. The smooth running of the Colloquium would not have been possible without the support of the Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University and local members of the Colloquium office. The ICMFS does not usually publish a proceedings and only occasionally publishes representative papers from the meeting. However, considering the recent rapid progress and activity in this field, the Organising Committee decided to have a widely available record of this particular Colloquium and asked 24 participants to publish the contributions they made at the Colloquium. We would like to acknowledge the cooperation of the authors. We are indebted to Dr S Takahashi of Tohoku University for his work in connection with this. The publication of the Proceedings was arranged by Sophy LeMasurier of Institute of Physics Publishing. This issue is dedicated to Professor T Shinjo to express our special thanks to his long-term contribution in the field and to the ICMFS in particular. Moreover we hope it is a fitting record to mark the occasion of his retirement from Kyoto University on March 31, 2002 after his sixty-third birthday.