Dear EIPBN Community,

Welcome to the 66th International Conference on Electron, Ion, Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication (EIPBN).

While the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be over, the lasting social, economic, and psychological impact has imposed challenges worldwide including to our community. Yet technological innovation has advanced at a rapid pace. And the irresistible glamor of San Francisco, evidenced by her vibrant culture and innovative spirit, has attracted all of us, including some old-timers who attended the last 3-Beam conference held in SF 49 years ago. This year we have over 400 attendees from 20 countries attending to celebrate these technology breakthroughs at this premier event in our community.

My EIPBN journey started in 2003 when Tim Groves and Mark Schattenburg organized a fantastic conference in Tampa, Florida. At that time, I did not have anything to present, but my Ph.D. advisor Steve Chou at Princeton generously offered junior graduate students like myself the opportunity to attend the best conference in our field. I practice the same tradition with my students. The new technologies and tools I was exposed to in the past 20 years at EIPBN have inspired many of our research projects. The ability to make novel devices and circuits has enabled us to contribute to my current research field, emerging AI hardware. I credit EIPBN for my career development.

EIPBN cannot thrive or even survive without our loyal and generous exhibitors and sponsors who continue to support us. Thank you to our Platinum Sponsors Raith and STS-Elionix; our Silver Sponsors AllResist and Heidelberg Instruments; our Bronze Sponsors GenIsys, JEOL, and Lab14; and all our exhibitors and sponsors: Amuneal, Applied Quantum Materials, Beamfox, Cleanroom Labware, Crestec, Cornell Nanofab, DisChem, EV Group, High RI Optics, ibss Group, Ion Innovations, IonOptika, Jenoptik, KLA, MAEBL, Electron Optica/MEBS, Nanonex, Nanoscribe, NuFlare, PBS&T, Quantum Design, Research, SAES, TEL, Tetramem, TESCAN, Tousimis, UC Components, UpNano, Vibration Engineering Consultants, Vistec, WaferWorld, ZEISS, Zyvex Labs, and ZEON. I also thank government agencies, including AFOSR, DOE, NSF, and ONR, for supporting our student attendees.

Our Program Chair Chih-Hao started his first EIPBN the same year as me. This may partly explain why I thoroughly enjoy working with him. With his creativity and hard work, Chih-Hao has put together a fascinating program with a stellar lineup of speakers that even impressed our government sponsors. Thank you, Chi!

I am grateful to the rest of the caring and capable Steering Committee: Gerald Lopez, Martha Sanchez (Women in Nanofabrication Chair), James Spallas, Rob Illic, Aimee Price (Commercial Session Chair), Wei Wu (Startup Contest Session and Contest Chair), James Owen, and Rick Silver (Short Course Chair). I am also indebted to John Randall, our Financial Trustee, who gave me peace of mind as I scratched my head over the balance sheet; Denise Hayner, our Corporate Accountant; Melissa Widerkehr and Jonni Adams, our Conference Coordinators; Nichole Ballard, our Registrar at YesEvents; and Nicki Davis, our Conference Website Manager and Guidebook App builder. I am appreciative of the incredible contribution of our volunteers, including Xiaogan Liang (Startup Session and Contest), Gina Adam (Women in Nanofabrication), and Guy DeRose (Commercial Session). I am thankful to the Advisory Committee for their continued support and dedication to the conference and the community.

Finally, thank you to all members of the EIPBN Community for joining us this year in San Francisco. Enjoy the conference!

Qiangfei Xia
EIPBN President and Conference Chair
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UMass Amherst

Dear EIPBN Community,

My first EIPBN conference was in 2003 when I was a graduate student. The conference was held in Tampa and chaired by Timothy Grooves and my advisor Mark Schattenburg. What attracted me from the beginning, and the reason why I believe EIPBN still stands out among academic conferences, is the close-knit community where researchers at all stages of their career can have open discussions in intimate settings. It is truly a privilege and an honor to serve as the EIPBN Program Chair 20 years later. I hope the welcoming atmosphere and that attracted me so many years ago can also be found at this conference.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Nanofabrication and Integration for the AIoT Era: Challenges and Opportunities.” Since the 70s, Moore’s Law has guided the semiconductor industry and EIPBN in the push towards ever finer features. As the scaling ran into challenges imposed by physical limitations, the question is where does EIPBN go from here? In an age where the technology buzz words are AI, big data, and metaverse, how can EIPBN contribute? If you look at this year’s program, the opportunities are abundant. You will learn about emerging computing architectures such as quantum devices, neuromorphic hardware, nanoelectronics, and nanomagnetics. You will hear about the advances at the forefront of nanolithography using electrons, ions, photons, imprint, and scanning probes. You will see leading researchers presenting work on emerging applications in nanophotonics, plasmonics, metasurfaces, MEMS/NEMS, microfluidics, and biomedical devices. These opportunities are also reflected in our three Plenary Speakers, Dario Gil, Teri Odom, and Ali Javey, who will tell us their perspectives on the future of computing and the role of quantum information, nanophotonics for emerging optoelectronic, energy, and biomedical applications, and wearable nanosensors and big data to monitor human health, respectively.

The program includes a conference-wide Panel Discussion Session titled “The CHIPS Act and the Future of US Semiconductor Manufacturing.” The semiconductor industry is going through a rapid transformation and the goal of the panel is to have an open discussion on the challenges and opportunities of semiconductor research, education, and production. The program will continue to include popular networking events including the Welcome Reception, the Commercial Lightning Talks, the Women in Nanotechnology (WIN) Luncheon, Conference Banquet, and the Student Mentor Lunch, where you can mingle and exchange ideas with other attendees.

It has been a pleasure to organize EIPBN 2023 with Qiangfei, the Conference Chair, who showed extreme dedication pondering over every minute of the program, every inch of the event space, and every dollar in the budget. I also want to thank all the members of the Steering and Program Committee, EIPBN 2023 would not be possible without your dedication. I especially want to thank Gerald Lopez and Martha Sanchez for steering the ship and keeping the community engaged during the turbulent Covid pandemic year. I also want to thank James Spallas and Rob Ilic for successfully transitioning the conference back to an in-person event last year. The EIPBN community was able to weather the storm and has gotten stronger because of these four individuals. Thank you for all the invited speakers and panelists, we appreciate you sharing your expertise and perspective.

Best Regards,

Chih-Hao Chang, EIPBN 2023 Program Chair
Associate Professor and Temple Foundation Endowed Teaching Fellowship in Engineering #1
Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin