European Materials Research Society Research Articles

Beyond Hydrogen Storage—Metal Hydrides as Multifunctional Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion

Following the E-MRS (European Materials Research Society) fall meeting 2019, Symposium L, this Special Issue of Inorganics, entitled “Beyond Hydrogen Storage—Metal Hydrides as Multifunctional Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion”, is dedicated to the wide range of emerging energy-related inorganic hydrogen-containing materials [...]

Supercharged!

Supercharged!

Materials Research for Group IV Semiconductors: Growth, Characterization and Technological Developments

Group IV semiconductors lie at the heart of many electronic and photovoltaic devices. Issues associated with bulk silicon continue to be important, but substantial fundamental challenges also exist for other group IV bulk materials and associated alloys, nanostructures, nanocomposites, thin/thick films, and heterostructures. Advances in device performance are underpinned by new defect engineering procedures, development of novel growth techniques, and improvements in advanced diagnostic tools. Point and extended defects remain at the centre of interest, as do surfaces, and in some cases their engineering represents an option for new functionalities. This special issue contains 16 technical articles arising from selected presentations at Symposium I of the European Materials Research Society Spring Meeting held in Strasbourg, France from 18th to 22nd June 2018. This symposium was the third in the “Materials Research for Group IV Semiconductors” series. The symposium attracted 113 presenting authors from 22 countries, and 120 presentations were scheduled over five days (21 invited talks, 35 contributed talks, and 64 posters). Graduate Student Awards were presented to Audrey Morisset (Université Grenoble Alpes − INES, France) whose paper is published in this special issue, and Michael Seifner (TU Wien, Austria). In this special issue there are two feature articles from invited speakers in the silicon field. One by Hourai et al. reviews, from an industrial perspective, the development of point defect-controlled Czochralski silicon crystals and their use in power devices. The second by Kolevatov et al., focusses on the interaction between hydrogen and vacancy-related defects in silicon. The other papers cover a range of topics including the fundamentals of heat flow and transfer in semiconductors, the fundamental properties of point-like defects, surface passivation, potential new manufacturing methods, and a variety of novel heterostructures. Thanks are due to the symposium co-organisers (Chioko Kaneta, Gudrun Kissinger, Leo Miglio and Deren Yang), the members of our Scientific Committee, and the paper reviewers. We were particularly saddened to learn that Prof. Bengt Svensson, a Scientific Committee member and committed supporter of the symposium series over many years, died shortly after the symposium. An obituary to Bengt written by his colleagues and friends also appears in this special issue. John D. Murphy Guest Editor and Principal Symposium Organizer

Editorial

Recent developments in both new materials and their multi-functional co-integration raise some fundamental questions that must be addressed theoretically and experimentally. This issue contains 8 articles documenting a selection of contributions to the symposia BB and V of the 2018 European Materials Research Society Spring Meeting, held June 18–22, 2018 in Strasbourg, France. Symposium V brought together researchers who co-integrate complementary functionalities by the heteroepitaxial growth of dissimilar materials. The challenges due to the heterogeneity of materials properties were at the heart of the symposium, with both experimental and theory-modelling perspectives discussed. A wide range of hetero-integration systems were considered (e.g. III-V/Si, oxides/semiconductors, organic/inorganic, 2D materials on 3D templates). Strategies were discussed for understanding and overcoming the problems associated with each hybrid material system, such as interfacial effects, extended defects and chemical mixing/segregation. Symposium BB focused on optical and X-ray techniques for characterizing advanced and hybrid material systems. The whole range of photon wavelengths was considered whereby many complementary characteristics of complex material systems can be explored. The works collected here not only reflect the recent state of the art in materials co-integration and advanced characterization techniques, but also point out future applications such as nanophotonics, quantum computing and energy conversion. Among its prominent contributions, this special section includes three Feature Articles: on 2D materials nanoelectronics from M. Dragoman et al. (DOI 10.1002/pssa.201800724), rare-earth doping of topological insulators from T. Hesjedal et al. (DOI 10.1002/pssa.201800726), and two-photon photoemission spectroscopy for studying semiconductor interfaces from D. Friedrich et al. (DOI 10.1002/pssa.201900251). Hybrid heteroepitaxial growth of MnSb(0001) on GaAs(111) is investigated by G. Bell et al. (DOI 10.1002/pssa.201800600), while shallow junctions in GaAs are studied by J. Duan et al. (DOI 10.1002/pssa.201800618). I. Shlyakhov and coworkers (DOI 10.1002/pssa.201800616) are determining band alignments of MoS2 monolayers with SiO2 and Al2O3 with internal photoemission. In situ and ex situ ellipsometry is proposed as a technique of choice by P. Petrik et al. (DOI 10.1002/pssa.201800676), to study zirconium surfaces for nuclear applications. Finally, the growth of Gd-doped SBN thin films on Pt-coated MgO (100) substrate is studied by C. L. Mak et al. (DOI 10.1002/pssa.201800660). We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of all authors and reviewers, financial assistance of the European Materials Research Society and INSA Rennes, the journal's assistance in realizing this special issue and the continuous support of the editors. Guest Editors Mircea Modreanu, Charles Cornet, Olivier Durand, Hiroyuki Fujiwara, Gerald E. Jellison, Gavin Bell, and Clement Merckling

Special Issue on “Electronic Textiles”

This special issue on electronic textiles was planned together with Wiley and the European Materials Research Society (E‐MRS) by the organizers of Symposium J “Electronic textiles” at the E‐MRS Spr ...

Substitution of Critical Raw Materials: Synthesis, Characterization and Processing of New Advanced Materials in Optoelectronic and Magnetic Devices

AbstractThis proceedings volume, published in phys. status solidi contains the research presented at the 2016 Spring European Materials Research Society Meeting in Lille, France, in the framework of the symposium E “Substitution of critical raw materials: synthesis, characterization and processing of new advanced materials in optoelectronic and magnetic devices”.The symposium, organized by the EIP commitment RESET, received 110 abstracts with 61 oral pre¬sentations from 26 different countries and represented one of the first scientific conferences on the theme of Critical Raw Materials in Europe.Raw materials are fundamental in most technological applications, however, the global increase demand and the geopolitical concentration of some of them, raised concerns about securing reliable access to raw material resources. In 2010 and, successively, in 2014 the EU commission created a list “Critical Raw Materials” on the prevision of the supply disruption foresees in the next 10 years and the economic and technological importance.Research is needed to improve the fundamental understanding of the development of new material solutions with a reduced or completely eliminated critical content, while maintaining or enhancing the performance of the materials, components and products.The design of the alternative compounds, the control of growth processes coupled with accurate characterization are mandatory for the further development of new CRM free devices.Among the different applications the research projects presented at the symposium were mainly focussed on modern lighting devices, transparent conductive layers, permanent magnetic materials and catalytic converters, providing an interdisciplinary platform on alternatives to CRM.We thank all invited and contributed participants for the high scientific level of presentation and, more in general, for the success of the symposium.

Group‐IV semiconductors at the nanoscale

The European Materials Research Society's (E-MRS) spring conference was held in Lille from May 2 to May 6, 2016. The conference attracted some 3000 participants and the scientific program was divided into ∼35 parallel symposia, grouped into 5 main themes. Symposium O: Group IV semiconductors at the nanoscale – towards applications in photonics, electronics and life sciences received 106 abstracts. The symposium program was laid out on 7 half-days including 16 invited presentations, 34 contributed talks and 48 posters in one poster session. The opening, invited talk was given by Dr. Leigh Canham on nanostructured silicon for medical use. His discovery of the luminescent properties of nanoscale silicon in 1990 makes him a true legendary in the field. While this first session was devoted to nanostructures for bio applications, other sessions were focused on nanowires, biosensing, silicon and germanium nanocrystals, two-dimensional layers, nanoscale memories, carbon and SiC quantum dots, and finally, theory. The symposium was well attended with sometimes up to ∼100 attendees, but typically attracting some 30–50 people in the audience. The symposium had three sponsors. The proceedings of the symposium contains 13 papers out of 18 submitted. We had decided to select physica status solidi (a) as the journal for publishing these proceedings instead of the less strict physica status solidi (c). That demanded somewhat higher quality from the submitted papers and a reviewing process involving two referees on every paper. Jan Linnros Tom Gregorkiewicz Minoru Fujii Mark Reed

Special Issue on “Nanocarbon Electrochemistry and Electroanalysis”

This Special Issue contains a collection of papers from the 2015 E-MRS Fall Meeting (European Materials Research Society), Symposium R entitled “Nanocarbon Electrochemistry and Interfaces”. The meeting was held September 15–18 in Warsaw, Poland. Approximately 60 scientists and students from 11 countries participated in the symposium. There were 9 invited talks, 22 oral presentations and 27 posters presented during the 2.5 day symposium. This symposium focused on the material properties, electrochemical behavior and electrochemical application of novel carbon materials including diamond, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, graphene oxide, carbon fiber, carbon onions, porous carbon, carbon black, carbon/diamond nanoparticles, carbon nitride, silicon carbide and their nanocomposites. Applications of these nanocarbons in electroanalysis, biosensing, electrocatalysis, electrosynthesis, environmental degradation, energy conversion and storage were covered.1 This Special Issue contains 5 reviews and 27 original research papers. The reviews include (i) recent progress with nanocarbon electrodes and electroanalytical applications, (ii) electrochemical grafting and surface functionalization of carbon electrodes for electroanalytical applications, (iii) the use of graphene for immunosensors, (iv) bioelectroanalytical applications of carbon nanoparticles, and (v) diamond-based scanning probe microscopic tips. Among 27 original research papers, 5 papers focus on the electrochemical properties of carbon materials, 18 papers are about the sensor development using nanocarbons, and 4 papers are devoted to electrochemical applications of nanocarbons. We believe this Special Issue will bring the readership up to dateabout progress with preparation and characterization of nanocarbons and their emerging applications in electrochemistry. The content will hopefully stimulate new ideas for nanocarbon-based materials in electroanalytical chemistry and facilitate interactions between material scientists, chemists, biochemists, physics, and engineers working in the field. 1 1

Earth abundant and emerging solar energy conversion materials

AbstractThis proceedings volume of physica status solidi contains research presented at the 2015 Spring European Materials Research Society Meeting in Lille, France. The papers were peer‐reviewed and selected for the proceedings. This meeting was a follow‐on from Symposium E from the Spring 2014 MRS Meeting in San Francisco (“Earth‐Abundant Inorganic Solar‐Energy Conversion”), and will be followed in 2016 with Symposium EE1 at the Spring MRS Meeting in Phoenix (“Emerging Materials and Phenomena for Solar Energy Conversion”).The symposium focused specifically on materials outside of the commercial realm (Si, CdTe and CIGS). All of the topics covered related to earth‐abundant and emerging materials, some of which include metal‐organic perovskite solar cells, novel inorganic solar absorbers, computational design for photovoltaics, defect analysis of absorber materials, interface and surface properties, and novel materials for solar fuel devices. The papers contributed to these Proceedings represent a cross‐section of some of the diverse topics covered during the symposium.We would like to thank all of the many invited and contributed speakers in the symposium, as well as those who presented posters at the meeting. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Analytical techniques for precise characterization of nanomaterials

AbstractThis special edition contains the proceedings of ALTECH 2014 – Analytical Techniques for Precise Characterisation of Nanomaterials, Symposium H of the European Materials Research Society (E‐MRS) Spring Meeting 2014 that was held in Lille, France, from 26th–30th May. ALTECH is a series of conferences initiated in 1989. The conference was offered as a satellite of symposium of semiconductor conferences in Europe or, on occasion, in the U.S., with a strong focus on analytical techniques for microelectronics manufacturing and research. In 2012, the German metrology institute PTB joined the executive board of the ALTECH and proposing a broadening of the ALTECH scope towards the characterization of nanomaterials. While imec has ensured the organizational continuity, further European metrology institutes adhered to the organizational board which made ALTECH to an important European metrology event on nanomaterials characterisation.Our conference covered recent and innovative developments in analytical techniques that can provide precise characterization of surfaces and materials, characterization of nanostructures and study of thin films with nanoscale and/or atomic resolution. In total, 167 contributions were presented, including 11 invited presentations, 87 contributed oral presentations and 69 poster presentations. The event also included significant contributions from the European Metrology Research Program projects 'Metrology for the manufacturing of thin films', 'Traceable characterization of nanostructured devices', 'Novel electronic devices based on control of strain at the nanoscale', and 'Chemical metrology tools for manufacture of advanced biomaterials in the medical device industry' including related tutorial sessions.Nanomaterials have unique properties associated with their small dimensionality. Functional nanomaterials are rapidly finding wider use in modern technological products in many areas, for example, displays, energy conversion, energy storage, sensors and biosensors. The accurate characterization of nanoscale materials is essential for the development of such innovative products. Conversely, properly engineered nanomaterials are currently seen as one of the most promising tools for high resolution optical microscopy.The objective of ALTECH was to highlight metrology capabilities for both the determination of the key structural and material property parameters in view of a better understanding of the related functional properties. One major focus was the application of these techniques to new and complex material systems with high potential of industrial impact, including nanoscale objects (nanowires, quantum dots), nanostructured thin films of organic, hybrid, or inorganic semiconductors, and functionalized surfaces. A special focus was given to complementary metrology in terms of using different analytical techniques with the aim of ensuring accuracy and traceability, i.e. the inclusion of a well‐described uncertainty budget. As many of these techniques depend on modelling to achieve reliable results, effective material analysis and computational analysis of materials and thin layers were also a key topic.These proceedings contain a selection of 23 manuscripts published in pss (a) and pss (c). pss (c) is organized in three sections:– Analysis of surfaces and materials– Characterization of nanostructures– Study of thin films.We would like to thank all invited speakers, contributors and attendees for their high‐quality contributions and excellent discussions which made ALTECH a very successful meeting. We are grateful to the scientific committee and external colleagues who supported the symposium and the organisation of these proceedings as well as acted as session chairs and reviewers.We thank the E‐MRS headquarter staff for their assistance in organising the symposium as well as Wiley‐VCH for helping with the publication of these proceedings. We also would like to acknowledge the sponsorship of several companies and institutions (NPL, Berlin Partner, Rigaku, Elexience, EXSA, INRIM, AXO Dresden, Sentech), as well as the support of the European Union through the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP), projects IND07 ThinFilms and NEW01 TReND, IND54 Nanostrain, and IND56 Q‐AIMDS. The EMRP is jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union.Andreas Nutsch, PTB, GermanyFernando Araujo de Castro, NPL, U.K.Christoph Adelmann, Imec, BelgiumBlanka Detlefs, CEA‐Leti, FranceGuest Editors

Functional Textiles – From Research and Development to Innovations and Industrial Uptake

Abstract Functional textiles are one of the most important fields in textile industry and textile materials science. They include breathable, heat and cold-resistant materials, ultra-strong fabrics (e.g. as reinforcement for composites), new flameretardant fabrics (e.g. intumescent materials), optimisation of textile fabrics for acoustic properties, etc. Functional textiles became more and more important materials for various applications and interest in them grew year by year; and more and more conferences are focused on functional textiles, as well as the events which are not only textile conferences but encompass various fields of Material Science. This paper presents a short overview about the European Materials Research Society 2014 Fall meeting conference Symposium M “Functional textiles - from research and development to innovations and industrial uptake” and the projects which participated as symposium co-organisers: the European Coordination Action 2BFUNTEX funded by the EC 7th Framework Programme NMP, the COST Action MP1105 on “Sustainable flame retardancy for textiles and related materials based on nanoparticles substituting conventional chemicals (FLARETEX)” and the COST Action MP1206 on “Electrospun Nano-fibres for bio inspired composite materials and innovative industrial applications”.

Moving Healthcare Forward

Moving Healthcare Forward

Organic and Hybrid Materials for Flexible Electronics

This is a special issue dedicated to the fascinating fi eld of fl exible electronics, and it stems from one of the Symposia held at the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) Spring Meeting from May 14 th to 18 th 2012 in Strasbourg (France): Symposium H “ Organic and Hybrid Materials for Flexible Electronics: Properties and Applications ”. The symposium aimed at bringing together key researchers in the above mentioned fi eld in order to stimulate discussions regarding the main challenges still to be faced towards the widespread application of fl exible electronics, with contributions covering both fundamental properties of novel semiconducting organic and hybrid materials and their effi cient integration in functional devices mainly by means of, but not limited to, solutionbased processes. The symposium was organized by Dr. Mario Caironi (Istituto

Proceedings of the E-MRS Spring Meeting 2012, Symposium N and Symposium O

The European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) Spring Meeting 2012 took place in Strasbourg, Palais de la Musique et des Congres, from the 14th of May to the 18th. Symposia N and O gathered researchers interested in improving the control over light at a truly nanoscale level, with a focus on plasmonics for the latter. Discussions were focused on presenting the recent breakthroughs in the ability to control, concentrate and produce light at the nanoscale— evolving towards quantum optics on the nanoscale. Emphasis was put on the methods to fabricate and characterize the materials enabling these abilities: advanced fabrication methods including e-beam, FIB, self-assembly and synthesis of nanometric sources of light and deeply sub-wavelength and/or time resolved microscopic methods applied to nanophotonics (SNOM, EELS, PEEM, etc.). Moreover, the effort towards nanophotonic devices has been developed via the discussion of active components and strategies to guide and concentrate light on a subwavelength scale. The symposia also addressed the question of how the community tackles the problem of attenuation in plasmonic structures. Eventually, progress on all these fronts is fostered by the development of computational or theoretical models—this has been touched upon as well. Every session was opened by invited contributions from speakers leading in their field. The two symposia held a common 1-day session about plasmonic nanoantennas—the quality of the contributions, along with the outstanding presentations of the invited speakers, made of the conference a very successful event, attracting more than 200 scientists worldwide. These proceedings reflect this success, displaying a sample of the variety of the contributions seen at the conference. A couple of articles discuss recent advances in the control of nanoemitters. The use of metal is very present of course, with different applications of plasmonics, from field enhancement at the nanoscale (for SERS or second harmonic generation) to fluorescence enhancement and improvement of solar cells. Eventually, novel methods to fabricate the objects necessary to control light at the nanoscale are reported. On behalf of the organisers, Yannick Sonnefraud, Chair E-MRS Spring Meeting 2012— Symposium N

Preface: Indium nitride and related alloys

AbstractThe present proceedings, which comprise 25 articles in a joint issue of physica status solidi (a) and (c), contain recent advances in the properties and applications of indium based nitride alloys and heterostructures. The manuscripts have been submitted to the Symposium H of the 2011 European Materials Research Society (E‐MRS) Spring l Meeting, held in Nice on 9–13th May. The goal of the symposium was to highlight the developments in growth and characterization of InN material as well as in related alloys and heterostructures for device applications.Research on indium nitride and related alloys received a significant boost in Europe through the Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) called “RAINBOW”, where 19 Ph.D. students and 8 post‐docs are trained in materials growth, characterization and related physics (EC funding 4.8 M€ for 2008–2012). This three‐days symposium was organized in the scope of the RAINBOW ITN. Such an organization proved to be highly successful: from the initially registered 80 contributors, the sessions were overcrowded all along with participants attracted from other symposia.The symposium discussed over 70 contributions, metal organic vapour phase epitaxy and molecular beam epitaxy of InN were covered, and special attention was given to the electronic, optical and structural quality of thin films. 16 invited speakers provided the current status of the research in this exciting field. In addition to invited papers, 45 oral presentations contributed to the sessions ranging from structural and optical properties to devices. Moreover, a poster session, which presented 21 reports, provided an important forum for detailed discussions. From the papers that were submitted for publication, 18 were highly rated, each by two reviewers and are published in physica status solidi (a). This issue is organised in three sections which reflect the topical sessions of the symposium. The first deals with the growth, optical and structural properties of indium nitride and related alloys, the second reports on the current theoretical investigations and the third section is devoted to the transport and point defects (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

European Materials Research Society (EMRS) Symposium on Transport and Photonics in Si-based Nanomaterials and Nanodevices – May 9–13, 2–11

European Materials Research Society (EMRS) Symposium on Transport and Photonics in Si-based Nanomaterials and Nanodevices - May 9-13, 2-11

On the past and present of carbon nanostructures

AbstractA personal review is presented on 50 years of my research experiences in working on research on carbon science and carbon‐based nanostructures. The text is based on a talk given in Warsaw, Poland, on this topic, presented at a meeting of the European Materials Research Society in September 2010.

Preface – Symposium J: Phys. Status Solidi C 3/2011

AbstractThis special issue of physica status solidi features the papers presented at Symposium J of the 2010 Spring Meeting of the European Materials Research Society (E‐MRS) entitled Silicon based Nanophotonics, held in Strasbourg (France) on June 7–11, 2010. These Proceedings address several issues in silicon based nanophotonic materials and devices, from materials growth of nanosized structures to devices. The focus is on the use of silicon as a substrate material to utilize the infrastructure of the silicon microelectronics industry.Over the last few years there has been a strong emphasis to develop photonic devices based on silicon, driven by the prospect of integration into the inexpensive silicon electronics platform. More recently, apparent limitations in heat dissipation and the interconnect bottleneck in microprocessors has fueled the research into monolithically integrated photonic devices to alleviate these limitations. A large number of Si compatible devices have been developed; however, the size of these devices often limits their usefulness for integration into microprocessors. Therefore, these Proceedings focus on the properties of nano scale photonic devices, with the expectations that it will stimulate the development of novel devices and functionalities.This issues features 25 peer reviewed articles that were organized into 7 topics: (1) Nonlinear optical properties of Si nanocrystals; (2) Radiative and non‐radiative recombination in Si‐based materials; (3) Silicon nanowires and nanorods; (4) Er‐doped nanostructures; (5) Silicon‐germanium nanostructures; (6) Photonic structures: Microcavities, photonic crystals and waveguides; (7) Si nanostructures for light detection and sensing.We would like to thank all authors for their contributions and the reviewers for their prompt response and comments that have improved the quality of the Proceedings and were instrumental in finalizing the Proceedings in a timely manner.We would also like to thank the scientific advisory committee, Prof. Minoru Fujii, Prof. Yasuhiko Ishikawa, Prof. Wolfgang Jantsch, Prof. Jan Linnros, Dr. Michael Morse, Prof. Stefano Ossicini, Prof. Tony Peaker, Dr. Richard Rizk, Prof. Margit Zacharias, and Prof. Zhiping (James) Zhou for their significant contributions through all stages of the Symposium organization and Proceedings preparation (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Preface: Phys. Status Solidi C 7/5

AbstractEvery year in September, the European Materials Research Society organizes the Fall Meeting at War‐saw University of Technology. The 2009 Meeting was held from 14 to 18 September. This issue of physica status solidi contains proceedings of the Symposium H: Bulk Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Materials.Amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys represent a unique group of materials exhibiting better or new properties in comparison with traditional polycrystal‐line materials. However, in many cases their applica‐tion is limited due to the small volume of the fabri‐cated alloys as a consequence of the technological processes. Recently, new types of alloys and new processing routes have appeared which enable the production of amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys and their composites in bulk form. They provide new technological potential for novel applications. The second main topic of the symposium was fabrication of bulk nanostructured materials by severe plastic de‐formation techniques. The symposium also highlighted advances in the development of nanoparticles with a special focus on fabrication methods, technologies and properties.The symposium brought together researchers from various fields, including contributions from ma‐terials science and engineering, physics, chemistry, electronics and manufacturing.We would like to take the opportunity to thank the Co‐Organizers of this symposium R. Yavari, J. Eckert and P. Svec. We also thank everyone in‐volved in the organization of this meeting: the Local Organizing Committee, the reviewers and especially all the participants whose contributions assured the high scientific level of this symposium (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Preface: Phys. Status Solidi C 7/3‐4

AbstractThe 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)